hack, cough, sniffle
I've discovered a new song artist. Origa. She's very popular in Japan, but, here's the kicker, she's RUSSIAN. Lol I'm sorry, I just find that amusing.
Chapter Seven
Chanting.
A woman was chanting, invoking spirits in the presence of a man, who had hair darker than her own. Pitch black hair that was short waves around his head, partially hiding his dark eyes as he watched her.
The dark skinned woman threw a bit of the invoking powder into the fire, always chanting. She was afraid of this man. He'd brought her over from her home in the Caribbean and he was singularly frightening just to look at. He had the aura of evil around him and knew he was key to the world, even if he was going to try to destroy it, he was essential.
"Well?" he said in a deep tone that sent shivers up her spine.
She stopped chanting and looked into the fire. "No'ting. I still see no'ting. You ask me to find him for you and I see no'ting when I do find him."
"You aren't working hard enough then. Your magic isn't conventional sort of magic. Not common at all. It should be able to find one simple man." His eyes showed how truly cold he could be. For such a young man, he was even more frightening than the thought of He-who-must-not-be-named.
She drank a bit of whiskey and spat it at the fire alter that she had erected. Again, she tried to invoke any spirits that would listen, pouring a bit of offering to them over the fire.
"He must be protected from me eyes. I find no'ting," she insisted.
"Well, what a tragedy," he said calmly. She didn't have to turn to know he had stood up and was behind her already. "I suppose you're no use to me anymore."
She heard the rustle of his robes and turned to face the man who would kill her. She saw his wand and saw a flash of bright blue light, then, all she knew was pain…
"Hogwarts! You're going to sneak into Hogwarts with Astra?" Ginny looked about ready to throw something heavy. "How?! You have to get permission for that sort of thing and Mrs. Snape isn't going to let you both walk in just like that!"
Harry sighed and rubbed his head. "I know. I need your help. Everyone's help."
Ginny quieted down and gazed at her husband carefully. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted. It's just…I don't want you getting hurt any worse than you do at work. Going after this bloke is likely to kill someone close to all of us. I don't want that happening again."
"The idea of what he's going after and what he could do with it is even worse. We have to, Ginny." He looked up at Ginny once more and her heart ached. He smiled, pulling her into his lap. He kissed her gently on the lips and nuzzled her neck. "Can your dad or one of your brothers help?" he asked.
She grinned and Harry felt better at seeing it. "We can probably do better. Percy is the head."
He had refrained from telling Ginny about Percy. He smiled a strained smile, forcing it to look genuine. "All right. I'll see what I can get from him. I don't want to take advantage of his position, though. That wouldn't be brotherly at all."
She smiled and kissed him. "Oh, Harry. You must know that even when he's being a pain in the ass, he's always going to try his hardest to help out his family…all of his family."
He smirked. The Weasley's were like a clan. The English wizard mafia. Hurt any one of them and the entire family was on you. If one needed help, then the entire family would bend over backwards to help them. This revelation also brought to Harry's mind an image of the Weasley's dressed in kilts and furs and painted blue as they charged down a hill screaming with weapons raised over their heads. It even brought to mind an image of Mr. Weasley dressed as the Godfather and trying to speak with cotton-balls in his mouth.
He grinned and slipped Ginny off his lap to answer the call of his screaming baby. Lily called for daddy.
Astra looked out the window of the Malfoy Estate that Mr. Malfoy had given them as a wedding present. In reality, Astra despised the man with all the hatred and fury of hell, but she would be damned if she would keep his own grandson away from him. She wasn't cruel.
It was surprising that Mrs. Malfoy had even taken a bit of a shine to her. It was probably because her "ickle Dracokins" was "finally becoming a man", even if it was with a mudblood. The really funny thought was that Astra's family, the human side, was fairly pure blood, having wizards and witches in a row for several generations. However, it was only when her dad married her mother that that tradition was broken.
It was also probably the prospect of Mrs. Malfoy getting to be a grandmother that made her so happy to pay for the wedding and the wedding dress. Astra remembered the day in the wedding dress shop and hated the dresses that Mrs. Malfoy came up with. They were all too poofy and lacy for her taste.
Kevin squirmed slightly in her arms and she let up a bit in holding him. She had a tendency to hold him too tightly and had to remember that she was a great deal stronger than a little baby. Kevin leaned back his head and looked at his mother brightly; bright blue eyes cheerfully gazing at her and reddish hair on his head looking much like fuzz on a peach. She gently touched his pointed ears and grinned. He'd end up looking like an elfish Weasley when he grew up a bit more. Then, he would get his mother's appearance.
"Showing Kevin the world?" said Draco as he walked into the nursery behind her. He wrapped his arms around Astra's waist and gently pressed the front of his body up against her back. He grinned when she shivered slightly.
"Why do you do that? Even when I'm just holding Kevin and looking out a window, you prove yourself to be a horny goat," she grunted indignantly.
He laughed. "Yes, well, I would think that finding you positively delicious after you've born my child and been playing auror for a while was a good thing." He licked the tip of her ear and she shivered again.
"Stop it, Draco. I'll drop Kevin if you're not careful," she said in a bit of a higher voice than she had intended.
He grinned even wider and let go. He really did enjoy playing with her like that. He knew she liked it, even if she wouldn't admit it. He kissed his little boy on the forehead and brushed his reddish hair back.
"Are you certain you had nothing going on with Fred?" he said with a devious sort of tone in his voice as he looked to Astra.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh shut up. He's a ghost, remember? He wouldn't be able to touch anything even if he wanted to."
They were silent for a moment, looking at each other until Astra blushed and stroked their son's cheek. Once again, Draco won just by giving her one of his famous devious grins.
"Father said it has been arranged," he whispered into her ear as he kissed her cheek. "You and Harry both will be able to go to Hogwarts as substitute professors until you are finished there."
Her ears went red and he ran a cool finger over the edge, making her shiver once again. "Thank you, Draco. We can't get Percy to help us, but we can keep your father from landing his ass in Azkaban if he stays a good boy." She grinned at him impishly.
Silvery eyes gazed into her own with a sort of intensity that made her gasp slightly. "My father is trying to be as good a grandfather as he can be. He doesn't want to miss any time with his grandson as he can help."
She blushed even more, her cheeks turning red now and she looked to Kevin silently. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Kevin was falling asleep now in her arms and she gently placed him in his crib. She started the watch monitor with her wand and looked out the window. Draco came up behind her once again and wrapped his arms around her. "You've been away entirely too long, Astra," he said hotly into her neck.
Her eyes rolled back into her head as she leaned against him for support. He lifted her up into his arms, nuzzling her neck as he took her to their bedroom for the night.
At Platform 9 ¾, Harry watched as the empty red train slowed to a stop in front of him. It was only him and a couple of students transferring from another school that were on the platform. He had never seen this place so empty before. It was almost unnerving.
He spotted Astra walking over with a trolley holding probably everything she owned. He suddenly wished Ginny could be here to see him off, holding Lily for one last time before boarding the train. It sent a shot of pain through his heart to not be able to do such a thing.
Astra smiled at Harry, her black velvet cloak on around her shoulders with the stylized "A" "M" in silver on her breast. Her hair was pulled up into a pair of buns low in the back of her head like curled up pigtails.
"You're a bit late, you know," he said with a grin.
She blushed hotly and glared at him. "As if you wouldn't stay in bed with Ginny for a while before coming here," she grunted.
He grinned even more. "Oh, was that what has caused you to be late?"
"Shut up." Her lips thinned and she shoved her trunk onto the train.
On the train, they sat opposite of each other. The scenery passed by outside the window while silence descended on them. "The answer is yes."
Astra blinked up at Harry. He hadn't spoken since getting onto the train. "Yes, wha?"
"I stayed in bed with Ginny saying my goodbyes," he said with a slight wistful grin. He looked out the window, coughing into his hand in an embarrassed manner.
She blushed just as much as he did as she looked out the window. "It… pretty much happened last night. This morning was recovery."
Harry fell off his seat. "What?!"
She snapped her head around to look at him, gasping as he got to his feet. He sputtered for a couple of minutes before readjusting his tie, which he had opted for instead of his usual T-shirt. He still wore jeans and sneakers, however.
"A bit of a marathoner," she said with a slight grin.
"Apparently."
"How was Ginny when you told her what we needed to do?"
Harry looked to Astra and grinned. "Fiery. She looked like she could melt the walls." He sighed and rubbed his head. "But she understood after the initial shock settled off of her."
"Almost the same with Draco, only he has a tendency to take after his dad now and get very quiet when he's angry. It's a bit scary," said Astra with a faint smile.
"Mr. Malfoy was the one that arranged this then?"
She nodded. "Ever since you killed Voldemort and the Deatheaters were being pulled out by the Ministry, he's been on his best behavior so he can stay out of prison."
"You helped, you know. I'd never have been able to kill him if you didn't have that necklace." Harry pointed to the triangular knot at her throat and she covered it up with her cloak.
"Let's not give me credit for it. It worked on its own. It could have been Ginny or Hermione that took the necklace, not me. I was just lucky."
Harry grunted and glared slightly at Astra. She was taking his usual sullen position and forcing him to take her more optimistic view. "Now see here, Astra. You were supposed to come to Hogwarts just like you were supposed to help me, just like I was supposed to be the one that killed the Dark Tosser."
She giggled faintly and looked to him grinning. "The Dark Tosser?"
"I heard Ron saying it not long ago and felt it was appropriate," he grinned.
Silence once again fell over the compartment. This was going to be a very boring ride if someone didn't think of something to talk about that wouldn't cause them to both blush and go quiet again.
One of the children that was at the platform opened the door and looked in. "Oh—er—sorry—um—have either of you seen my cat?"
They shook their heads in unison. The girl couldn't have been much older than third or fourth year. She had short brown hair and big brown eyes. "Are you two going to be professors?"
"Why, yes, we are," said Astra with a grin.
"My name is Amelia Heart. I'll be going into fourth year, at least that's what my letter from the headmistress said. My family decided to move me from Durmstrang into Hogwarts because it would be closer to home." The girl walked all the way in and sat down next to Astra. "What are your names?"
"I'm Mrs. Astra Malfoy. I'll be teaching History of Magic." She winked at Harry and grinned broadly. "Headmistress Snape felt that Professor Binns ought to have some time off to be a ghost."
"Malfoy? I've heard of them! I heard they're a mean lot, though. You aren't mean are you?" The girl genuinely looked frightened at the thought of Astra angry with her, and, even Harry had to admit, that it was an accurate fear.
"No, of course not," Astra said with a grin.
Amelia looked over to Harry and he squirmed slightly in his seat. It was exactly like being a student once again, being stared at by children in awe of something he barely remembered. "I know you! You're Harry Potter! What are you going to teach? Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
Harry pulled out the envelope with the note in it from Mrs. Snape. He grunted. It was exactly what he was going to teach. "Yes."
The girl giggled and got off the seat. "It was nice meeting you two. I have to go find my kitty now. Thank you!" Then, she ran out.
Astra grinned at Harry. "You still get uncomfortable, don't you?"
Harry blushed and glared at Astra.
"Shut up."