Book 4: Astoria Greengrass and the Curse of Quennell Park
Song recs:
Family & friends - "Timbre of the Wind" by RD-Sounds, arranged from ZUN's "Bibliophile with a Deciphering Eye"
Rhiannon/Hestia - "Vanilla Sundae" by Emily Burns ft. Olivia Nelson
Aurora/Barty - "Sahara Mahala" by The Jezabels
Astoria/Draco - "Wide-Eyed" by Cold Weather Company
** Please let me know what you thought of the series! Thoughts/comments will always be appreciated, no matter how long it's been. **
This series is dedicated to my mother and my lovely readers.
"Both light and shadow
are the dance of Love.
Love has no cause;
it is the astrolabe of God's secrets.
... Although I may try to describe Love,
when I experience it, I am speechless."
- "The Meaning of Love," Rūmī
Epilogue
Allhallowtide
In the South Downs, between Broomer's Corner and Dragon's Green, there existed a large, Unplottable property known as Lake Greendragon. The house at Greendragon was luxurious, even though it was not the ornate baroque palace many others in the family called home. Painted cloud-grey, the house sat on the sloping hill down to the lake's shore. The front was always welcoming, with candles lit in the windows at night, and the back of the house touted large, half-muntin windows that let in natural daylight and provided such a view that the lake itself felt like part of the house. The interior was timelessly decorated, with walls in muted greens and blues, detailed woodwork, and vaulted ceilings. A certain lady named Astoria Malfoy-Greengrass had used her money, charm, and a bit of annoyance to get the property from her aunt many years ago, and she had been there ever since. Other occupants of the beautiful lakeside house had changed over the years.
Astoria's eternal friends had once blessed her loneliness with their residency, and they now had beautiful homes of their own. Flora had asked, if it would not have been too meddlesome, to settle down on the island in the middle of the lake. Astoria was more than pleased with the idea. Now, with her Runespoor and two cats, Flora lived in a quaint cottage by the water, a mere boat- or broom-ride away. Flora took the surname of her late mother, Mabily Blodwyn, to rid herself of the name of Carrow.
Flora Blodwyn had once been in the same band as Astoria — Pariah. They had left at the same time to pursue other careers. Flora now worked in the Love Chamber within the Department of Mysteries. As an Unspeakable, Flora was not allowed to talk about the details of her job, but Hestia found endless amusement with the job title alone, that is, "an Unspeakable in the Love Chamber." The story went that Flora astounded everyone with her research insights from day one. An even wilder rumour detailed her setting fire to the office's Amortentia bowl, saying "You've got it all wrong!" as her co-workers scrambled to air out the scent. Either way, the Department soon offered her a rare interministerial position in order to work in the Brain Room as well ("Can you believe it? They needed somebody with my sad brain to study other sad brains."). She similarly flourished there, though of course, one will never know the details of her classified accomplishments.
Like Flora, Astoria had been offered a position in the Department of Mysteries — in her case, the Space Room — but she declined because she liked talking about space so terribly much. Astoria had since reached her dream of becoming a fully-fledged astronomer, and she was always researching phenomena in space and the magic it gave to Earth. She was the co-founder and co-owner of the groundbreaking Sinistra-Greengrass Observatory, located near Hogwarts in Scotland. Students and professionals alike made pilgrimages to do research, or otherwise came for a peek at the amazing atrium ceiling and decided to stay. Because of Professor Sinistra and Astoria's efforts, Hogwarts had, after many centuries, gained a reputation for being a good Astronomy school, and the students no longer wondered why it was a required class even if they didn't carry a passion for it. Astoria did; she had years of award-winning research and many more years ahead to make delightful discoveries.
Rhiannon and Hestia Clarke had once lived at Lake Greendragon, and they now owned a beautiful arts-and-crafts house, tucked away in the Lakeland fells. Their love of music would never extinguish; to this day, they recorded and toured as Pariah with Montel Davis, their talented drummer. Pariah had been one of the first signees to Ms Glenda Chittock's own record label and enjoyed years of creative control over their work ever since.
Rhiannon and her older friend Parker Ryne, a Muggle who had often given her a place to be away from her parents in her childhood, co-owned a record shop in Diagon Alley. P.R. had had to abandon his brick-and-mortar record shop in Whitechapel in 2013 since Muggles turned to "digital" music. However, upon Rhiannon's urging, P.R.'s Music Shop continued on in a new, magical incarnation. In addition to the success of the record store, he had found one more way into Wizarding society. Penelope Clearwater, a high-achieving Ravenclaw graduate who loved all things music, discovered that once she understood P.R.'s accent, she loved what he was saying. There was now a small colony of magical Ryne children at Hogwarts, of whom Rhiannon could not be prouder.
In addition to Pariah, Hestia Clarke had a less glamorous day job that she equally adored, which was working as the Head Herbalist at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary in Diagon Alley. She regularly took in trainees, and they always had wild stories to tell about her concoctions. Rhiannon, Flora, and Astoria often found themselves as her test subjects for new formula ideas. Hestia rarely let them know what the products were supposed to do beforehand, citing fear of the placebo effect. Astoria was always cautious with the purple and pink ones.
The handsome Draco Malfoy-Greengrass had been enjoying the house at Lake Greendragon for many years as he and his wife built their lives together. His eye-glazing proofreading job had paid off, and he had been able to land the job of chief copy editor for his favourite magazine, Seeker Weekly, with his experience and critical eye. Draco had always enjoyed being able to work at home, his favourite place in the world. Though, with time, he was not as cloistered as the war had once made him, and he was often caught bragging about his wife at her research presentations and dinner parties. Mr and Mrs Malfoy-Greengrass were also the current title-holders for a certain secret duelling club, the Crimson Shrikes, which may or may not have permitted a reasonable level of Dark arts fun. The covert club met every other Saturday night at the last bend in Knockturn Alley, where they would always see Theodore Nott. Theodore was no longer trimming broom hairs and had since become a renowned author of nonfiction history volumes that were actually interesting.
The greatest joys of Mr and Mrs Malfoy-Greengrass's house were not the home observatory, the entertainment space, or the private dock, but the children. After many years enjoying each other's company, Astoria and Draco had decided to start a family. It had not been an easy journey, but they had taken the heartbreaks together. Their son, Scorpius Hyperion, had been born in July 2006. The naming traditions of their mothers had informed the boy's mouthful of a name. The Blacks used stars and constellations for names, which was just the ticket for nerdy Astoria, and since her favourite constellation to research was Scorpius, it only made sense. The Ciels were not as strict, but they used names that evoked the sky, the sun and moon, or the wind and clouds. In Greek mythology, Hyperion had been the father of the sun, moon, and dawn, and since it was also the name of one of Saturn's moons, they went with it. Their friend Rhiannon had called it a "pure-blood" way to name a baby and found great hilarity in how long it had taken the little fellow to learn to spell his own name.
Astoria's goddaughter, Delphini Tonks, had been seven years old at the time the pregnancy had started to show. Delphi had been amazed that there was a baby in her "stomach," and thus felt compelled to warn Astoria that "he'll eat all your food in there." Delphini had been right about him — the growing boy had been devouring their food ever since. Scorpius was born a very light blond and had remained that way like his father. He looked like a Malfoy from a mile away with that hair and pointed chin, but beneath his pale eyelashes, he had only his mother's eyes, and he wore her crooked smile.
After having already given up on a second child, the Malfoy-Greengrasses discovered that they would have another new member of the house. At the end of October in 2008, Scorpius became a big brother to a baby girl. Her first name was Leyla, for the night sky, and her middle name could have only ever been one thing: Eltanin, for the brightest star in Draco.
Leyla was born with a white patch of skin on her otherwise warm, Greengrass complexion, and her brown hair had grown in with a piebald patch on the crown, a trait that had come from Narcissa which made her self-conscious. Unable to recognise she was beautiful, Leyla had the stunning grey eyes of her father, and her heart-shaped face and pouty lips rather made her looked like the Ciel side.
Compared with goddaughter Delphini, Scorpius had not been nearly as wild a baby, but he had still come into the world full of magic, whereas Leyla did not show a single sign. Astoria had first thought that Leyla was just like her, but by the time Leyla had turned seven, both of her parents had long accepted that she would never use magic. Their love for Leyla was unconditional, and they were not upset that she was a Squib. However, they worried about Leyla's envy towards her brother and her already budding feelings of inadequacy. Miraculously, it had only taken one conversation with Scorpius for him to stop showing off his magic to his sister. When he realised that she would never use magic, he became her biggest advocate.
Lucius and Narcissa, predictably, blamed Astoria for "making" their grandchild a Squib. The Malfoys and the Blacks had produced just as many Squibs as the Greengrasses. The difference was that instead of treating them well, the Malfoys and Blacks merely contributed to the homeless youth crisis so they wouldn't have to write the Squibs on their precious family trees.
The Malfoys had always wished Draco would have married Daphne, who now had a million kids, and who, at one point in her life, had sponged up Parkinson's supremacist beliefs. Daphne was no longer like that, but the Malfoys had found any excuse to prefer her over the Death Eater-slaying, Squib-producing Astoria. In sharp contrast to the Malfoys, Astoria's parents, Adam and Estelle, had tried to pull the same hovering, shielding moves on Leyla that they once had used on her, but Astoria put a stop to that. Leyla might have seemed disabled or disadvantaged to them, but to ninety percent of the world's population, she was not. Leyla didn't need to be stifled and sheltered; she needed to be encouraged and trusted.
Leyla would never have to be concerned with the things so many Squibs had faced throughout history. Naturally, the Greengrass-Ciel side of the family had embraced her without any problem. However, although Lucius Malfoy had doted on her in infancy, he started asking prying and extremely judgmental questions as Leyla began to approach the cut-off age. Though a child, Leyla could understand his damaged attitude towards her, and the experience had been terrible on her already suffering self-esteem. Without the children round, Astoria had been unafraid to call Lucius out on his nonsense, and thankfully, Draco had been equally vocal.
Just when they felt things were safe and they could let the kids visit the grandparents again, Lucius let a cold comment slip when Scorpius was preparing to go to Hogwarts. Leyla had made an innocent comment at the dinner table, wondering into what Houses she and her brother would, theoretically, be Sorted.
And Lucius had snippily told the nine-year-old Leyla, "Your kind doesn't Sort."
Astoria had been ready to leave Malfoy Manor in flames when her baby ran out of the room sobbing, "Grandfather doesn't love me." Draco, in scarlet emotion, raised his wand at his own father for the very first time in his life, and Astoria could have married him all over again. However, nothing Astoria or Draco ever said or did fixed Lucius; it took Leyla screaming out her broken heart.
Lucius had most urgently repaired himself in little Leyla's eyes where he would never get the same admiration from Draco again. Over time, though, things mended, and if Lucius still dared to have the kind of thoughts that had caused two Wizarding wars, he never opened his mouth about it.
The whole experience had rallied Astoria's inner activist, and she started the Renshaw Greengrass Memorial Foundation, an outreach and violence-prevention group that educated Wizarding parents about raising Squibs and Muggle parents about raising Muggle-borns. With only friends and family at the start, Astoria resurrected the Squibs' Rights marches through Diagon Alley and had authored more than one-hundred educational pamphlets that had been translated into other languages and distributed internationally. Under Minister Hermione Granger-Weasley's rule, the Foundation received government backing and had been working closely with the Muggle Relations department. Astoria was shocked to find out how many Squibs there were in the U.K., and she kept the Foundation staffed with mostly Squibs, who wrote and spoke about how Squib children can pursue Muggle educations whilst not being separated from their families.
Magical education was another story. Scorpius went to Hogwarts for one reason and one reason only: Hogwarts had changed for the better, and anyone would have to be mad to think there would be dementors, basilisks, or wanted criminals there nowadays. To avoid an awkward trip to Ollivander's, Draco had jokingly suggested that Scorpius try out Astoria's cherry wand. Having largely been relegated to domestic magic since Astoria never pointed the silver lime at her small children, the cherry wand was happy to be in the hands of a fresh learner with lots of activity. Astoria had worried that Scorpius would feel jilted from the opportunity to get a bespoke wand, but to her surprise, he considered the cherry to be a holy heirloom, and the tamed instrument worked for him without the slightest grumpy protest.
Like his parents, Scorpius was Sorted into Slytherin, which was almost as pleasant as any other House now. He wrote immediately to tell them, and he wrote to his sister to say that there was no doubt in his mind that she would have been a Ravenclaw. That had meant a lot to Leyla because that was the House she admired. She continued to be home-schooled in both mundane and Wizarding subjects by Draco (though Astronomy and Arithmancy were Astoria's job) until she was old enough to enter the Wizarding Institute of Fine and Performing Arts in Dublin. Most people called it "the Art Institute," but Leyla always called it "WIFPA" to make her friends grin. As a child, she had taken the kiddie dance lessons there, but it was the fine arts she really enjoyed. After Astoria did some finagling with the accommodations office, Leyla's dream came true. As it turned out, one didn't need to be a wizard to study Wizarding art and graphic design. Astoria was very proud of her daughter for always trying out new classes.
Sometimes, though, it was difficult to buoy Leyla's self-esteem, especially now that she was a teenager. It was the twenty-ninth of October, and Leyla's fourteenth birthday was today. With a birthday so close to Hallowe'en, she had spent her childhood enjoying spooky decorations at her parties. Now that she was older, it became tradition to simply have a get-together round Allhallowtide where she could bring her friends, eat good food, beat everyone at snap-dragon, and see the family.
The house was decorated with fluttering bats that would turn to glittery red slime if snatched in the hand, bopping turnip jack o' lanterns in the windows, orange and black streamers, and Grow-Your-Own Ghouls in the game room below that would jump out at anyone unsuspecting. Draco and Astoria were getting the food ready, which included plenty of sweets: squeaking mice pops, crunchy Dragon Claws, wriggling Cockroach Clusters, hopping chocolate frogs, fizzing Sugar Hexes, Every Flavour Beans, and spider-shaped chews that had to be picked out of a huge web of Stringmints. They had real food, too, like roast beef, mashed swedes and carrots, stews, barmbrack and butter, soul cakes, and a decorative tray of toffee and caramel apples (those were real food, according to Astoria).
The party started at five o' clock, so when the bells sounded at the front door at four, there was only one pair it could be. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy liked to show up early so that they could leave before the Potters' youngest two came over with their cousin Rose. And before Astoria's parents came and cleared their throats awkwardly whilst trying to make pleasantries. And before Mrs Tonks stopped by with more food for the table. And before Professor Sinistra came by with her poppets, magic pumpkin seeds, blessed candles, and half-breed best friend. And before Rhiannon and Hestia came and started strategically making public displays of affection in front of them.
Yes, Lucius and Narcissa tried to avoid a lot of people.
Draco went to get the door, and Astoria heard them fuss over him as he offered to take their cloaks. Narcissa came in with a hot cauldron of chickpea and pork rib soup in one hand, and in the other held a round platter of homemade marzipan designed to look like the harvest moon with craters. As usual, Narcissa asked Astoria to relay to her how many people complimented her food throughout the night. She also wanted Astoria to reveal to guests that it was her loving mother-in-law's cooking. Lucius came into the kitchen after being boisterous with Draco, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Where are my grandchildren?"
"Scorpius is downstairs trying to get everyone with, ugh," Astoria groaned, "prank scorpions. Leyla is… oh, she was just here… Leyla dear!"
"I'm in the living room, Maman."
Astoria walked round to find Leyla on her tiptoes in front of the mirror above the fireplace. The first thing Astoria noticed was that Leyla's body language did not look happy, and the second thing she noticed was that she was wearing a hood in the house. The grandparents were making their way towards the birthday girl, but Astoria waved them away for a moment to figure out what was wrong. Leyla spun round with a red face. Astoria had learnt to suppress her Legilimency round her non-magical daughter for the sake of her privacy, but right now, the girl's eyes (and her hair) told Astoria everything.
"I wanted to get rid of that spot on my head, and I asked Scorpius to use a Colour-Changing Charm on me. It didn't work! I don't know if he was afraid that there wasn't enough magic to hide his Trace, or if it's just impossible to fix me, but…"
Leyla took her hood off. Where the white-blonde patch had been was now squirrel-brown, and where her natural brown had been was now black.
"I look hideous, but I don't want him to get in trouble because of the Trace all over my stupid hair!"
Leyla was quite fraught over nothing, shifting her weight nervously in her little black dress as if there were no worse thing magic could do.
"Here, darling, it's no big deal. Come here."
The silver lime wand was now Astoria's twenty-four-seven wand, so she wasn't afraid to use it in people's faces anymore. She swished it back and forth over her daughter's hair, and it went back to normal. Astoria had given enough wild colours to Delphi's hair upon request during her childhood (quote: "I wanna be like Teddy! His hair's orange!"), so of course she offered to do the spell properly for Leyla.
"Brunette, dear?"
"Erm… yeah, if that's okay. I'd just like it all to be the same colour… All brown. I don't want to glow like Scorpius."
"Now, I'll do this for you, but it's not permanent. I want you to realise that you're beautiful exactly as you are. I know how you get, though; you're a teenager…" Astoria said.
"All right, Maman," mumbled Leyla.
"All right, Leyla. Colo—"
"Might I have a word with my granddaughter?" Lucius interrupted at the edge of the room, having ignored Astoria's request to leave them alone for a moment. Astoria raised her eyebrows.
"Hello, Grandfather!" Leyla said.
"Hello, pumpkin. Happy birthday."
"Thank you."
Leyla was willing to put the spell on hold to see what present her grandparents had bought her. Incredibly, she liked the clothes Narcissa picked out for her, but never liked anything Astoria suggested. Oh well. Lucius did have a gift ready in glinting orange paper, but that wasn't what he wanted to say.
"Come sit with me by the window here, Leyla."
Lucius gave a look towards the door to Astoria. She never trusted Lucius to teach any decent lessons to her children, but she could see Narcissa readjusting the whole buffet she had just set up to be more visually appealing by her standards, so she decided to step out. She could heed off Narcissa from her Hallowe'en display and still hear Lucius.
"I'm sure I've told you that you have your grandmother's hair," he said to Leyla.
"Yes, I know. I was… tired of being different. All I wanted was to see how it would look. I guess you think it's nice because of Grandmother, but I don't."
Oh, my poor girl, Astoria thought. This instance of self-consciousness was quite new; Leyla had never cared what her hair was doing before. Had someone said something to her at school? Lucius of all people was on the case.
"Well, Leyla, I'm not saying you can't change your hair, but I don't want you trying to change yourself. When I met your grandmother, she had a sunny ray of hair in the front like you, and black hair down the back. One day in my fifth year, I was on my way to our class, and I didn't see her there at first because she had charmed her hair completely blonde. Now, to me, her natural hair was one of the million things that made her so special. When we started a relationship, she said that she had no idea that I liked it the way it was. She changed it to try to impress me! I was bewildered! As you know, your grandmother sometimes wears her hair in all blonde. Other times, she plays round with the colours, and they end up in a different spot than when I last left her. These days — don't tell her I said this — she switches it up to hide the grey, bless her. You may certainly do what you like, as your grandmother does, but know that you are beautiful no matter what you do. Now, Leyla, if there is someone who has put ideas in your head about how you ought to look, I—"
"No, it's not that…" Leyla's voice came out shyly. "It's just that I already have no magic, and my hair makes me stand out even more."
"Leyla, your real friends will accept you exactly the way you are. And there is no boy on Earth worth trying to alter yourself for, so if some boy said—"
"Er, no, Grandfather, really… it's… I just… I just wanted to see…"
"Well, let's come to the mirror and see, then. Colovaria."
Astoria didn't hear anything for a few moments. Then she heard her daughter speak again.
"Okay. That's all I wanted. Thank you, Grandfather. Er, can you change it back, please?"
Lucius changed her hair back and must have handed her the present, because he haughtily requested, "Open it in front of everyone later, pumpkin."
Oh, that Lucius sure wanted a lot of credit when he came back out of the living room. Astoria mustered a nod and smile and sent the old git on his way. Draco had come back in from getting the boats ready for the kids and their friends, but he must have come in through the door downstairs, because he had several fake scorpions clamping his backside.
"Don't go down there," he advised. "These buggers jump. I don't know what makes Scorpius think this is funny."
"Oh, Rose got those rubbish things for him at her uncle's joke shop. But you would have found it funny at that age," Astoria said, turning Draco round and casting the magical arachnids off of him.
"Did you get them all? I don't want to sit on one," he asked as she started Vanishing them on the floor.
"Oh, wait, here's one more," she said devilishly, pinching his bum with her fingers.
"Why, you…!" he fought back, and suddenly, they weren't too old to play chase in the hall.
Then Astoria went to the door downstairs and called for her clowning son.
"Scorpius, come upstairs and say hello to your grandparents before they run off. Do not bring those things."
Scorpius bounded up the steps, completely empty-handed.
"Ah, I see you listen to your mother," Draco commented.
Scorpius gave him a wilful look and took off towards his grandparents and sister. The house would soon be filling up.
Scorpius often wished he was the one to have the October birthday instead of Leyla because Hallowe'en was his favourite holiday. At school, he liked the Hogsmeade trips and common room parties. At home, he liked the food and his mother's ghost stories round the fire. His favourite one was about Quennell Greengrass the first, though he had a feeling Mother censored a lot of it. The older relatives actually remembered the ghost of Quennell. Sometimes, Scorpius felt like he did, too.
Even though Hallowe'en was his favourite, it was usually round Hallowe'en that Scorpius would have vague images come to his mind. And even though images were typically called hallucinations or visions, Scorpius didn't want to call them that because that would mean they were bad, right?
Scorpius had always been close with his mother, so as long as she wasn't looking him dead in the eye, he wasn't afraid of talking about some things. He would never come out and say what he was thinking-slash-seeing, but he would ask her questions like,
"That haunted churchyard in Godric's Hollow you told me about… does Delphi go to the church there?"
And mother would say, "Yes, that's the Tonkses' church."
And when he would ask, "That place at Quennell Park where the grass doesn't grow. Was that because of a fire or magic?" Mother would say, "Magic fire, yes."
And sometimes Scorpius would feel very anxious about the scars on Mother's arm for no reason. One day, when he was old enough, she had come completely clean and told him that they were scars from old blood magic. Knowing that made it worse, because sometimes he had dreams in which he lost her to some other kind of blood magic. Sometimes, he felt like he had lost his little sister, his cousin Delphi, and all his best friends, too, but that he was always there, left alone in these dreams.
But then Scorpius would wake up properly, and stuff his face with Hallowe'en sweets, and feel totally better.
Right now, Scorpius was out on the back patio trying to figure out whether he wanted a canoe or a rowboat for when his friends got there. He heard the house get much louder inside, and he had a feeling that everyone from Quennell Park had come through the Floo to shower Leyla with birthday gifts. He'd have to go back in and say hi to Mémé and Pépé, because they weren't going to come out to the cold. It looked like the doorway was already blocked with party-goers, though. Aunt Daphne and Uncle Ernie had way too many kids, and Scorpius had expended energy over the years remembering all their names: Astarte, Ernest Jr, Aubeline, Caoimhe, Xylon, Indigo, Célestin, and Daphnis. Scorpius was close with Xylon, who was the same age and in the same House. However, the youngest two were annoyingly young as far as Scorpius was concerned, and they were pressing their noses against the glass to see him standing outside. Aunt Daphne had been smart enough not to let them take off their coats, because she came outside with them not a moment later so they could run out to the orange leaf piles below.
"Hello, Scorpius, how have you been?" Aunt Daphne asked, kissing each cheek.
"I'm well, Aunt Daphne. How are you?"
"Oh, quite well, quite well," she said, and they looked out at the water.
Aunt Daphne was as much a Seer as Mother was a Legilimens. Instead of having a chilling gaze, she tended to look a bit vacuous. She was smart, though. She made money to her own name by working as a Naming Seer and freelance aeromancer.
"Has everyone already pestered you to tell them about school?" Aunt Daphne asked.
"Er, no," Scorpius said.
"Ah, may I be the first to ask, then?"
"Oh, yeah. Er, well, I'm getting good marks in Astronomy, Charms, and Divination," Scorpius said. "I need to bring up my D.A.D.A. marks, but that won't be too hard. There's just a lot of homework I miss."
"Good! I'm very proud of you. Marks aren't everything, though, Scorpius. I don't want you overexerting yourself. I know you and Xylon are in all the same classes. Which other ones do you take with your friends? Which classes do you most enjoy?"
"Oh, erm. Well, I like Divination the best, and D.A.D.A. even though I keep missing the work, and then Astronomy. Rosie is in my D.A.D.A. now that we're at the N.E.W.T. level and they mix the Houses. Albus is still in all my classes; the only thing he dropped was Transfiguration."
"That's good, you need to enjoy these last couple years. Our father always worked us too hard," Aunt Daphne disclosed. She had her arms folded, and her breath was visible. She wasn't really looking at Scorpius. She was cold, and she was watching her kids to make sure they didn't eat any slugs.
"Well, anyway, I've been meaning to talk to you about divination," she said.
"Oh."
Scorpius sort of wanted to get back inside for when Rosie and Al arrived…
"Your mother told me you've always had bizarre nightmares about time magic and people dying that she couldn't explain."
Oh yikes.
"Er, well, it's not that big of a deal. It's really not. I guess it must just be, er, like, the things I fear the most. I don't need to see a Healer or anything, really. I'm fine," Scorpius said defensively.
Aunt Daphne gave him a rosy-lipped grin.
"I know you are. The Eye has shown you the world well. I would say it has guided you more perfectly than Seers have ever known it to do."
Scorpius had been planning to have a normal evening, and then Aunt Daphne had to go and say something like that. The Eye? As in the Inner Eye? As in…
"You mean those visions I had were real‽" he exclaimed, because if so, he had to run and go make sure Mother, Leyla, Albus, Rose, and Delphi were all right…
"No, sweetie, no. They're not real," Aunt Daphne said, taking his hand tightly. "They were what could have been real according to the selfish, conflicting wills of people. I had spent so long in ignorance it almost makes me ashamed to call myself a Seer. Yet once your mother revealed Quennell's tale to me, I understood what I Saw."
"W-What? I don't get it," Scorpius said anxiously. "What do you mean 'could have been?' What do you mean 'Quennell's tale?'"
Aunt Daphne sighed and looked to the house, as though she were afraid she would be caught.
"Well, I will tell you, for your Inner Eye will bother you otherwise. Our ancestor, Quennell Greengrass, accidentally set a curse into our blood that would waste us away. The only way to prevent it from killing us was to tap into the magic — love — of his wife, Astoreth Greengrass, by marrying on her own wedding date, the Vernal Equinox. The Equinox was the only time Astoreth's residual magic was potent enough to stop Quennell's living curse. Your mother broke that curse with her own magic. Had she not known to, the tension between her and our parents would have led her to ignore the Equinox. She would have died of that blood curse — not instantly, mind you, because she is far too stubborn for such a thing — but eventually, she would have succumbed.
"Those visions you have every so often are merely a residual string of consequences from the folds of time, and as a Seer who will always be in tune to cause-and-effect, you are aware of them. But I don't want you to be afraid, Scorpius. You are merely aware of what could have happened, as I am. It isn't real. Your mother saw to the end of that curse for you and your sister. She just didn't know it at the time. During that war, I thought I lost her. Now, I will not lose her again. I am so proud."
"Wait, d-does that mean I'm really a Seer? That I'm a Seer like you are?" he asked, amazed.
Scorpius didn't really understand what Aunt Daphne was saying. It seemed like she was trying to comfort him. Maybe he should take the hint and be comforted. Maybe he didn't have to be bothered by those dreams anymore. His mind, or his "Inner Eye," was just playing out domino effects that didn't exist. He'd been cursed with that anxiety since he was a child. But it was safe to let it go.
"You are a Seer," Aunt Daphne said sweetly. "May I ask you a big, big favour?"
"Well, yeah! What is it?"
"Can you accept that you do not have to pursue the Eye? It is so unkind, and you are a kinder soul than I am. The Eye will create unnecessary burdens upon your self-concept. You mustn't fret over the coulds and the woulds like many Seers do. You'll end up with a whole stage play of 'what ifs' running in your head. Don't forget to live in the present, to see with your outer eyes. You may use the Eye when it is most pressing you, but do not let the Eye use you. Do not train it to become more than you are. Can you do that for me, Scorpius?"
"I… Yes, of course, Aunt Daphne. Er, thank you. Really," Scorpius said earnestly.
"Oh, well, you're welcome! I am usually so full of advice that people don't always want to listen," Aunt Daphne chuckled, squeezing his hand and setting it free. "Let's go back to the party, shall we?"
No sooner than they had turned round did Leyla jump out of the door and lob a shrunken head at her brother, with Delphini Tonks right behind her. Scorpius caught the head quickly and smiled at them. Delphi had charmed, pastel blue hair, and somewhere off in the house, Teddy Lupin was certain to be sporting a midnight blue that he could colour at will. Delphi carried round her pet skink, Sampson, on her shoulders almost all the time. He was a chubby-looking yellow thing, and more gormless than a Pygmy Puff.
"What was that for?" Scorpius huffed, throwing and catching the shrunken head.
"Delphi and I are testing people to see if they catch it with their hand or their wand when they're surprised," answered Leyla.
"Guess I failed your little test," Scorpius said.
Leyla and Delphi shared ornery looks.
"No, we're doing this because I wanted to prove to her that people are silly to try to use magic for everything," Delphi said. "The people who reach for their wands usually end up getting hit with the head!"
"I think you two just wanted an excuse to throw shrunken heads at our cousins," said Scorpius.
"Well, we might be enjoying that part of it too…" Delphi replied.
Scorpius and Aunt Daphne both knew that Leyla never would have done such a thing without more than a little encouragement. She looked up to Delphi as the cool older cousin; Scorpius, on the other hand, thought Delphi had a few loose screws.
"Oh, Delphi, Delphi," Aunt Daphne sighed. "Grow up already! How could you egg her on? Shame on you."
"Oh, but Madam Daphne," Delphi smarmed, "it was only a game — I guess you could call it a bit of social commentary! I would never actually disrupt such a delightful party…"
"Uh-huh, yeah," said Aunt Daphne, and she poked Delphi right on the nose. "Your charming little act isn't gonna work on me, sister. And you, Leyla, you should know better than to listen to this one."
Leyla beamed at Delphi, who was making a face over being called "this one." Then they both looked back at Scorpius, who was watching them.
"What's that look, Scorpius?" Leyla asked. "We're fresh out of shrunken heads, if that's what you want."
Scorpius tried to shake off the cheesy feeling towards his family, along with all of the weirdness Aunt Daphne had just dropped on him.
"I'm just glad you both are here," he said, which sounded even cheesier and weirder, so he added, "for Hallowe'en."
And peace washed over him.
Hestia was always such a sight when she was getting ready for something, Rhiannon thought. Rhiannon brushed her teeth in the sink next to her wife, since she'd eaten onion rings for lunch and didn't want to greet their friends with that kind of breath. She kept sneaking looks at Hestia as she put on her make-up. Dark purple lip-liner emphasised a perfect shape and preceded a shimmery lipstain. Small black wings fanned from the corners of Hestia's eyes, where Rhiannon had noticed darling little crows' feet appearing lately (she would never say a word). Hestia always parted her lips when putting on mascara; to this day, it made Rhiannon smile like a fool. But it wasn't the make-up at all that Rhiannon admired, it was Hestia's fluid motions. The fun Hestia had whilst making an artistic statement. Hestia in general.
If a Seer had told Rhiannon that this was the adult life that awaited her, her childhood might not have felt so hopeless. Oh, it would have been awful, terrible, disgusting, and cruel… but never hopeless. Rhiannon had taken the long road in learning what hope was. The best part of that long road was falling in love with this woman — this unlucky, pure-blood, cloistered Carrow. Hestia had loved her from afar, when her world ignited in flame, when Rhiannon had spent nights in Boston clinging and crying into her pillow and wishing it were Hestia's form. That was when hope was all Rhiannon had — hope that Hestia was alive.
"Would you get my corset-thing?" Hestia asked, and Rhiannon obliged even though she had been admiring the loose strings trail down her back.
"You look lovely," Rhiannon kissed into the ear of her overdressed wife.
"Oh, so do you, Rhi," Hestia blushed.
Rhiannon knew she didn't, but she would never question this perfect little witch. If Hestia found the half-lumberjack, half-roadie look attractive, who was Rhiannon to argue?
"I'm so excited for the food," said Hestia as they gathered their cloaks.
"Mmm-mm…!" said Rhiannon simply by picturing the Hallowe'en table spread. "I'm surprised you're not bringing some prank concoction this year to put in the liquor after midnight."
"Draco Malfoy with feathers was my crowning achievement, Rhiannon."
They already had the Floo powder in their hands when Hestia exclaimed, "Wait! Leyla's present!"
"Oh damn, you're right," said Rhiannon, and trotted to the closet where they had been keeping it. Leyla was a teenager now and beginning to shy from gifts, but that didn't mean Rhiannon and Hestia were done giving them just yet. They took their roles as the "cool aunts" very seriously and gave her all sorts of art supplies whenever she did or didn't need.
Rhiannon paused a moment when her fingers made contact with the wrapping paper. Because it hadn't always been birthday gifts and art supplies. At one point, there had been baby shower gifts to the mother. And did Astoria ever earn it. Rhiannon had opened her door to Astoria more than once — times before Leyla and Scorpius — when the woman had been utterly shattered. The secrets of the universe had slipped from Astoria's hands no matter how much Rhiannon wished for her best friend's happiness. Rhiannon had felt like the least qualified person to help during those times, since she herself did not want children. But as long as Astoria needed her, Rhiannon was going to be there. And she still was here, even after things worked out. Because she would always be.
Rhiannon swallowed her bittersweet tears that came from more than just the midlife hormones. Those midlife hormones were no match for Hestia, anyway. Rhiannon felt young again just by looking at her.
"Hey, Hestia. Let's take the broom."
Hestia bit her lip and giggled.
"Oh my, Rhi. Happy Hallowe'en indeed."
Astoria looked out to the lake, where she could see the lanterns on her children's boats as they made their way to Flora's, who would surely have scary surprises ready for them on the island. Scorpius still had the Trace, so he had to row the boats the same way as Leyla, but Astoria had a hunch he still would do it the manual way once he was of age. After all, he was proud of his "muscles," and he couldn't have his little sister getting ripped whilst he relied on a wand for everything. The Potters' son Albus and the Minister's daughter Rose rowed boats next to him.
Leyla was good friends with her cousin Pomeroy Kippling and Sedecla Burke's son, Shaul, who both went to WIFPA. They each rowed a boat, along with Hogwarts Hufflepuff Lily Potter, Leyla's best friend ever since her dance classes. Neither Scorpius's nor Leyla's friends had been approved by their paternal grandparents, but that made Astoria doubly proud. Regardless of Harry Potter's reputation as a war hero (or a berk, as Draco said), his children were great in their own right. Astoria was the one who did all the talking to the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys, though. She didn't mind.
Rhiannon was next to Astoria, throwing her paper sweets wrappers into the fire pit to watch the flame burst with magic colour. She had been the one to find the ring in the barmbrack, and she was wearing it on her little finger, having dubbed herself the "Hallowe'en Queen." Rhiannon was the one who had fatefully introduced Teddy and Delphini to Elton John's music, and Delphini could now sing "The Bitch is Back" entirely in Parseltongue, especially when you didn't want to hear it.
Delphini had a few things going for her regarding the Parseltongue situation. Firstly, the related-to-Rosiers lie had worked quite well. Secondly, Delphini was the owner of an apple wand, which traditionally was helpful for wizards and witches seeking to speak the language of magical beasts. Thirdly, everyone genuinely believed Delphini to be Andromeda's daughter, because anything else would have been too wacky. Lastly, nobody would ever suspect the girl with the pet skink and the Elton John memorabilia to be the daughter of Tommy Riddle. Delphi was twenty-four now but young in spirit. She worked as a Magizoologist for the Ministry, which was a big step up from her first job of cleaning out Ashwinder nests from people's homes. She sat down on the other side of Astoria and said, "hi."
"Hello. What do you want, dear?" Astoria asked.
"Must I want something? Can I not simply wish to sit next to my beloved godmother on this beautiful autumn night?"
"Yeah, yeah. What do you want?"
"Would you colour my hair again, please?" Delphi requested.
"You're an adult. Can't you start colouring your own hair, darling?" Astoria sighed. She was always the one to end up with this task.
"I can't get the charm right in the back. Or around the curls. You know that," Delphi said.
"Where is your mother? Can't she — it's hard to see out here. Why is everyone wanting me to change their hair for Hallowe'en?" Astoria called to the wind, and the wind did not answer. This was probably karma for all the times she had made a big deal about her hair as a girl.
"Well, see, Mum already tried a few days ago. She made it white. She doesn't know what ash platinum is. I want it ash platinum. You're the only one I trust with my hair since yours is so lovely, Astoria," Delphi said flatteringly, and she shook her curls back and forth.
Oh good grief.
Teddy Lupin, who had used his morphing magic to make his face into a Grindylow's, was chasing some younger relatives along the bank nearby (the kids knew it was him). Teddy overheard Delphi and mocked her.
"Silver hair makes you look like an old lady, Delphi!"
"No it doesn't! Don't talk to your aunt that way!" Delphi said back.
Teddy made his best Grindylow grimace at her. Delphi liked to make the "aunt" joke — a joke that wasn't even true — but they were just like brother and sister. Delphi hissed at her pet Sampson to crawl onto her lap. Once the skink was out of the way, Astoria took Delphi's big, bouncy curls into her hands and did her best with whatever the hell ash platinum was. Delphi's dead ends wouldn't take the charm and were still showing her last colour, blue.
"Actually, that's okay," Delphi said, shining her wand light onto the colours.
"As long as you like it," Astoria said, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't your workplace want you to have, er, naturally-coloured hair…?"
"Nah, they don't care!"
"Of course they don't."
"Ha! Thanks, Astoria. You're the best," Delphi said.
Astoria could only imagine that Mrs Tonks would ask her what she had done to her daughter's hair at this party. Delphi had spent most of her life coming to Astoria when her mother had already said "no" about something. That was how Delphi ended up with an Augurey tattoo on her back the same week she was of age. (Astoria had to be the one to get her hand squeezed white throughout the whole tattooing appointment with Asenath). It was Astoria's own fault for indulging the girl. Oh, who was she kidding? She would gladly do it all again.
"Wish we could've had fun hair colours back in the day," Hestia remarked. "All the girls want pastel hair now, even the Muggles. They put bleach in theirs, I hear. Bleach!"
"Honey, you don't even know what bleach is," Rhiannon said, and Hestia poked her in the belly.
Teddy tired out the young ones and came to sit by the fire. His huge teeth and fins glinted slimily in the light. Theodore Nott, who was next to him, did not say a word in order to see how long it would take the young man to notice.
"Forgot to put your boat race back in place, champ," Rhiannon said, and Theodore glared at her for ruining it.
"Oh!" said Teddy, grabbing his face in surprise and morphing it back. "My bad!"
"That's much better," said Teddy's apple cider-guzzling wife, Victoire.
They had just been married in the summer. Teddy owed his grandmother and Astoria some serious thanks, because he had been able to woo Victoire with the French they had raised him on. Well, that wasn't the only thing. Teddy was a charmer in his own right and had a heart of gold. When Teddy wasn't morphing his face, he looked much like his father. However, not everyone was able to recognise that Teddy's handsomeness had come from his father, who had spent a long time being judged by his facial scars.
A few screams sounded from the island, and Astoria's parents looked on concernedly, not understanding that a spooky walk in the woods was exactly the sort of thing their teenaged grandchildren loved about Hallowe'en.
"Ooooo! Flora must've got 'em good," Hestia laughed wickedly, rubbing her hands together. "She told me she did the whole island this year."
"Don't worry, Estelle. Leyla will love it," Draco said to Astoria's mother. "I bet Scorpius is hiding behind her right now."
"Do you really think he'd do that in front of Rose and Albus?" Astoria doubted.
"Yes, because they're behind him," Draco said, and munched a toffee apple.
"I think I'll go wait for them at the end to scare them one last time," Delphi declared, much to the added dismay of Astoria's parents. "You know, in the spirit of things."
"You are so rotten, girl," Astoria said.
"Oh, you love me for it," Delphi batted her eyes.
"I do. Go scare my kids so they're happy."
"They took all the boats," Hestia called as Delphi trotted toward the dock. "Rhi and I came on broom, if you'd like to borrow it."
"No thanks! All right, nobody look," Delphi said, which definitely led everybody to look at her. "Ah! Stop! I can't do it when people are looking!"
"That girl is so dozy," Hestia said. "Who would want to bother Apparating somewhere within earshot?"
The crack of Apparition never did sound. It didn't matter; those who didn't know were distracted with conversation and drink. To them, one moment Delphi was simply gone. Astoria, though, had smiled to herself and watched Delphi wiggle her shoulders, jump, and cannonball into a blur. Delphi thought that flying was merely a neat oddity of hers, akin to Teddy's ability to grow Horace Slughorn's moustache at will.
That self-esteem was exactly what Astoria had always wanted for Delphini, and the sight of her simple fun in flight was more warming than the fire.
"Ready?"
Rhiannon was standing by the hearth in an ankle-length black cloak. Her strawberry blonde hair was in a messy morning bun beneath her hood. Astoria grabbed her heaviest black cloak. Though Rhiannon had come through the Floo, the pair couldn't reach their destination through it. They stepped out to the cold light of sunrise, and Astoria whipped the lock on the door.
Lake Greendragon was blanketed in all shades of fallen leaves, which drank up the sun either on the ground or face-up in the water to reflect their brightest colours. Allhallowtide was the only holiday Astoria held in common with Professor Sinistra. The professor did not subscribe to either of the religions of her late parents, but rather to the old rite of spirits, which had once been a fad amongst Muggles and seemed contrary to her expansive knowledge of astrophysics and empirical space magic. Perhaps it wasn't contrary. One wouldn't know yet.
Astoria held out her arm for Rhiannon, who gripped it for Side-Along Apparition. Astoria took this trip every weekday morning for work in a straight shot, but not everyone was used to that.
"Would you like me to use the half-way point or Apparate the whole way?"
"Might as well not Splinch my vomit in two pieces," Rhiannon said bluntly.
"How nice an image, Rhi," Astoria replied, and they Apparated in a direct route to Hogsmeade.
At the end of town, there was a tall, misshapen house of black-brown wood with a vivid purple door. It was bigger inside than out, but it was not as treacherous as it had once been. It was still a tad cluttered in there but wholly navigable, though for privacy's sake, not by Floo. With a sophisticated observatory only five miles across the land, and Hogwarts Astronomy Tower a mere walk away, the house's lookout at the very top of the turret seemed obsolete. However, Astronomy Tower had not always been a place that held a job, and the Sinistra-Greengrass Observatory had spent many years as a flight of fancy. That turret in the house had been built especially for Professor Sinistra, and she still used it for recreational stargazing when she was tired of making work out of it. For as nice as the eccentric house now was, Astoria and Rhiannon bypassed it and went round the back garden. They still had a trek after the stone path ended. The grass was heavily dewed, but the ground was never over-sodden because the rain always did exactly what it was supposed to here.
At the edge of the property there stood a tall evergreen tree. The professor was beside it, lightly pruning the branches. As branches fell from the spells in her hands, they gently floated over to a cauldron on the ground. Every part of the tree was toxic to mammals, and to put the fresh trimmings to use, they first had to be soaked in the Antidote to Common Poisons. Birds, though, loved the tree exactly as it was, and when Astoria and Rhiannon walked up to the professor, she cheerily pointed out all the nests left over from spring and summer. Once the cauldron was full, the professor dried and emptied its contents, and the trio sat on the bench by the tree to begin their task.
Using Sticking Charms, they fixed the clipped branches together into small wreaths. The dark green needles contrasted nicely with the pale yellow clusters of pods, and it was easy to get dozens of them crafted within minutes. In the distance, birds in the Forbidden Forest continued to announce the morning as the three witches were still blinking away sleep.
When they had used up all the snips, Professor Sinistra waved her wand and stacked the wreaths perfectly together. They each Mobilised their pile and walked to the Hogsmeade Graveyard. The graveyard had many well-visited sites, touched with preserved flowers, smooth stones, memorial candles, or personal items. However, there were many long-forgotten graves — those with centuries-old, half-sunken markers, those with no living family, and those whose headstones had been weathered away when the protective magic set on them no longer lived, either. There were flat, grass-covered stones that needed revealed. There were graves of unbaptised babies and suicides all the way at the edge of the ground, from a time long ago when even wizards had wrongly tried to play the judge of souls.
This was the morning of All Souls. Diligently, the early-rising witches cleaned up the Hogsmeade graves and set a wreath upon each lonesome one. There were oft-visited ones that they stopped by to visit, too. Professor Snape was there, and he received not a wreath but a fresh bouquet of conjured lilies. Professor Babbling was there, and she received a runic stone. At the top of the hill was Cedric Diggory, and Professor Sinistra stood by him a very long time, but she did not add anything material to the site. It was already flooded with "Support Cedric Diggory" badges.
At the gates, they each burned a bushel of the professor's homemade incense. Then they returned to the house and went back to the edge of the property. They sat again in the bench by the yew tree for a rest. The spot did not mean the things to Astoria that it did to the professor and Rhiannon, but she fully understood them and remained by their sides as they smiled and chatted about the best ways to dress up bland pumpkin juice. Over the years, Rhiannon had left many items covered in Impervius Charms upon the stone at the foot of the tree, including a copy of her N.E.W.T. results, her Beaters' gloves from both Wampus and her seventh year in Slytherin, and copies of her albums. Every item was still there except for one thing Rhiannon had left to make a serious point to the nutrient below — a Death Eater's mask, which had finally fallen to silvery dust.
Unbeknownst to anyone at Quennell Park, Astoria sneaked there with two yew wreaths and placed them upon the ground where the soil was permanently charred. She wasn't in the mood for conversations with everyone in the mansion, especially conversations about her standing in this spot. She was ready for a nap, so she bid Quennell and Astoreth peaceful rest.
Professor Sinistra was scheduled for the observatory that night, and Astoria would cover the Hogwarts Astronomy class. Astoria hoped that she didn't embarrass Scorpius whenever she substituted. At least he usually didn't seem embarrassed. It was a Wednesday, so she wouldn't be teaching his class. Instead, she'd be dealing with first-, fourth-, and fifth-years. (That nap had been necessary).
The last class of the night was the first-years'. Astronomy class had always been used by students as a trick to stay out past curfew, but it wasn't Astoria's job, or Professor Sinistra's for that matter, to make sure students went back to their common rooms. Astoria was hardly surprised to find her son out past his own curfew on her way back down the tower. He was in the Astronomy library with Rose, Albus, and a rather healthy mixture of members from all four Houses. Astoria had never much cared about curfew, and she definitely didn't want to be the uncool mum, so she didn't say a word. She was actually glad that her beloved library served as a hub for inter-house socialising. Nobody thought poorly of Scorpius for being a Slytherin. They were all together, playing some very nerdy card game which Astoria had never comprehended.
She walked down the staircase and stopped to wish a happy holiday to the Bloody Baron. Draco had already been to the drainage system by the school's lake to see Moaning Myrtle on Hallowe'en, which was the ghost's favourite tradition. After bidding the Baron goodnight, Astoria was surprised by the sound of Scorpius calling down to her, "Hi, Mother. How are you?"
"Hi there. Everything went smoothly, er… except for the, er, bubble gum incident. You can go back to your game, Scorpius. Don't worry about me," said Astoria graciously.
"Well, we heard the first years leave," he said. "Lost track of time. We're wrapping up soon."
"Don't let Mrs Norris catch you on the way back. Do you have cat treats on you? She's got two tails now and twice the demands for treats since my time here."
"Yes, I do. And we're taking the staircase you told me about," Scorpius said keenly.
That's our boy.
"Well, good luck, dear. Enjoy your week," Astoria said.
She didn't see them yet, but she could hear his friends coming down the steps behind him, so she didn't say "I love you." Teenagers could be so picky.
"Bye, Mother. Love you," he said, so that was her go-ahead to say it back.
She would later have to brag about the event to Draco, who often bragged to her about darling Leyla (but Leyla wasn't a teenaged boy — the affection economy with her was far more affluent). They decided that for a couple of forty-year-olds, they must still be cool.
Maybe getting older didn't matter as much as everyone claimed. Professor Sinistra was sixty, and it didn't stop her. Astoria was surprised to spot her marching round the outside of the observatory. Distracted by the professor, Astoria lost the path and tripped on the charred, rocky ground outside Hogwarts that she had created. She straightened up quickly; only a fool trips on what is behind them.
"Good evening, Professor!" Astoria called, still unable to see what the polymath was up to.
"Imps!" Professor Sinistra explained as Astoria approached. "They think because it was Hallowe'en they can stand outside the observatory and rush in to smash our telescopes when people open the door!"
With her eyes adjusted, Astoria could clearly see a rabble of imps bouncing up and down by the observatory door, shouting childish profanities. Professor Sinistra's method of using doxycide clearly hadn't worked; the imps were covered in it but licking it off of their hands like it were cake batter. Imps were Dark creatures, so Astoria took a guess.
"Do you think a Patronus would work, Professor?"
Professor Sinistra shrugged, and the jewels on her robes sparkled in Astoria's wand light. She looked like she was reaching for her own wand… With her wand in her hand, the whites of her eyes grew wide.
"Oh, silly me," she said. "Do you mind casting, Astoria dear?"
Astoria's automatic thought found its way to the professor:
Did you want to try first?
Professor Sinistra squirmed slightly. It had been ages since she last attempted the spell. Astoria sensed that the professor had found enough happiness in life to finally cast it. And yet…
I don't want to cast it, Professor Sinistra thought. I don't want to know if I can now.
Astoria understood that. She took her mentor's arm affectionately, and with her free hand, she cast her own Patronus, Pavo, to chase away the imps. His feathers looked highly unusual this time. Occluding the thought, Astoria knew she had channelled Professor Sinistra's magic after all. It wasn't really about the Patronus Charm, though. It was knowing that Aurora Sinistra had finally found peace.
"Now we have an imp-free observatory! That worked well," grinned the professor.
Astoria thanked her for the compliment as though she were still a schoolgirl in need of praise. Some things would never change. They bade each other good night, and Astoria Apparated home.
The nature of Astoria's work had given her a rather vespertine sleep rhythm over the years. Draco wasn't at his reading spot by the fireplace when she came in, so Astoria figured he must have gone to bed. She tried to manoeuvre round the house quietly so she wouldn't have to use twenty charms. Draco worked from home, so he claimed that he didn't mind her nocturnality, and he usually worked similar hours as she. Occasionally, though, he did go to sleep at a humanlike time, and she hated to wake him.
Astoria made herself a pot of tea and sat down at her desk to try to get some work done. She usually liked the sound of the keys on her typewriter and calculators, but she Silenced them for the sake of Draco's sleep and worked quietly. She watched the page slowly churn out of the typewriter as she wrote, and then, through the window just above it, she saw a light down by the dock. It was small and red, like one of their lanterns. She opened the window to the cold air and called out.
"…Flora?"
"Do I really look like Flora in the dark?" her very-awake husband asked her.
"You look like a blob," Astoria said. "Did that boat get loose?"
"No. Want to come outside?"
"Not particularly. It's cold."
"Not where I am."
"What?"
"Come outside, Astoria."
She rolled her eyes. Anything important enough to go out to the cold surely could have been relayed through the window. It wasn't like the whole dock had sunk. She put on all the layers she had recently taken off, stepped out to the back patio, and took its stairs down. The scent of the wet night air coupled with the sweet decay of autumn leaves was wonderful in any temperature, and she took a deep breath as she walked across the grass.
Draco was standing at the front of the dock with his hands in his pockets, looking smug as ever. His eyes were half-closed, and his lips were curled in the kind of smile that always made Astoria ask "what?"
"I tore apart one of the boats," Draco said proudly.
"Ah, you made me come down here to fix it for you? Why are you out here breaking the boats, anyway? It's one in the morning. Shouldn't you break boats in daylight when they're more visible, darling?"
Draco was laughing snidely to himself. Astoria tried to see the damaged boat in the dock lights. The boat in question didn't look broken…
"I fixed it already," he said.
"You just told me you broke it."
"You'll see."
Draco led her down the dock to the boat and held his lantern directly over it. He had torn out all the seats, and he had three or four duvets situated in there. From where she stood, Astoria could feel that they had already been touched with Warming Charms. There were pillows, too. Her eyes lit.
"That's not all," Draco said, as he wrapped his free arm round her and rubbed her shoulder. "Look up."
The night was supposed to be cloudy, but the entire horizon was completely clear. She hadn't even noticed; she had been so wrapped up with numbers and papers…
Quite the gentleman, Draco helped Astoria into the boat, untied it, and kicked it off. Then he tapped a spell onto it so they didn't have to row. Astoria was holding back a massive smile, and she didn't even know why. There was no point in being shy with her husband of twenty-one years; he always claimed he loved her funny smile. She was overwhelmed and smitten.
"Thank you for doing this, Draco."
"Of course," he said. "Thank you for all the things you do for me."
Draco crawled next to where she was sitting, lay down, and patted her pillow invitingly. She lay back next to him and drew up the warm cover. He caught her staring, and he nuzzled his nose against hers until she snatched him up in a kiss. Things had really worked out, she reflected, after spending her adolescence thinking one or both of them would die in a war. That war was long over. There weren't any more Death Eaters, Dark Marks, or giant sea demons. Draco and Astoria had careers, a house, hobbies, and some much-appreciated peace. Most importantly, they had their children and each other.
They cuddled closely together and looked up at the clear night sky, which displayed its illuminated artwork of the late autumn stars and planets. Unconfined to a telescope, their appreciation for the beauty of the night's expanse renewed with each glimmer.
"You know… we should make a habit of this, Astoria."
"Oh, Draco, I agree."
End