I do not own Harry Potter.

Astoria watched Padma walk towards her. She couldn't help but look at her. She wanted to look away. She wanted to pretend that she hadn't noticed her but she had and Padma always got her attention. They had been something very comforting about Padma.

It had been two years since they last saw each other. Padma had been crying while Astoria had kicked her out. It hadn't been her finest hour. Padma looked frailer. Lab fumes did that to you. Hours spend bending over the potion labs brewing was not good for the body.

"Greengrass." Padma whispered.

"Patel." She nodded.

"May I take a seat?" Padma asked

"If you can bear my company." she said hiding the venom behind a smile.

Padma was unfazed. She took a seat next to her. She glanced down towards her knee. She was feeling self-conscious. She didn't want her body to be poked and prodded by Padma.

"Having a bad day?" She asked

"I feel fine." she lied. It had been a very bad day. Her pain had flared up in the morning. She winced when she moved her legs. She never knew where she would hurt but it always hurt somewhere.

"Fine?" Padma asked " I know what your fine means." Padma whispered.

"Do you want me to run some diagnostic spells?" Padma asked

"I can whip you up some good pain-relieving potions" Padma offered.

Astoria hated Padma sometimes. She always reduced her to a bearer of a curse. A thing to be studied. A unique specimen, full of pain and suffering which she got to study. She had often wondered if it kept Padma up at night trying to solve an elegant solution to the Greengrass curse.

"No, I don't want you anywhere near my body." she said gritting her teeth.

Padma seemed hurt but she didn't leave. She wanted her to leave.

"I am not going to let you experiment on my body, Patel."

"Tori." Padma pleaded.

"You are not going to make a name for yourself curing me. Please leave."

"I will." Padma shot up straight and headed for the exit. It was a typical Padma move. Run when you couldn't handle it. Astoria was still running on anger but she knew she would feel terrible about this. She knew she would regret the words she used, Sometimes Astoria hated herself.

Daphne had won her bet with Potter but she knew something was wrong. Astoria was used to people taking a keen interest in her body to understand the damn curse. It was not unusual for an unknown Curse breaker to show up at the manor and promise to break it. They never turned them away. Astoria always played her part dutifully and she knew how to shut them down well when harassed by these frauds.

Her sister dealt with Patel and she watched her leave with amusement. Astoria was sitting alone, slumped on her chair with a resigned look on her face. Daphne knew that she had to get her out of there.

"Potter. This was fun." She muttered to him as she got up and walked briskly towards her sister. She dropped a generous amount of galleons on the table.

"Do you want to go home?" Daphne asked her. Astoria nodded. Fuck, Was Astoria silent. Silent Astoria was hurt Astoria. She was going to kill Patel. What had this woman done? They walked towards the floo. Astoria trailing behind her. She let Astoria go first.

Daphne stumbled into the manor to find a cold-faced Tori staring down at her.

"I told you. I didn't want to go." Tori snapped.

Daphne tried to placate her. " I am sorry, Tori. Was Patel worse than the other ones?" She asked

Tori refused to answer and stormed off toward her room. Daphne followed her. Tori was hurt and incredibly hurt.

"She was so much worse," Tori muttered.

"What did she do?" Daphne asked.

"Nothing."

"Do you want me to talk to father about her?"

Tori stopped abruptly and turned to Daphne.

"You will not talk to father about this," Astoria said. "He will ruin her career," she said.

"Okay, I won't," Daphne said trying to placate her.

"Maybe you can add Potter to the list of men foolish enough to sleep with you." Astoria taunted before closing the door in her face.