AN: I'M SORRY READERS, I'M SO SORRY…I know this was MORE THAN A WHOLE MONTH LATE but I have a reason! Don't beat me up just yet! I was CRYING over my lack of reviews! I'm VERY ANGRY. So please, by the next update, I want MORE REVIEWS. No more updates UNTIL I get 50 reviews, or more. So start reviewing!
Righto, sorry, but the duel is postponed until the next chapter! For now, please entertain yourself by reading this chapter - full of completely original material!
Fill-In:
Chapter 1: 6 year old Iris Potter meets Lucius Malfoy
Chapter 2: Iris Potter meets Draco Malfoy
Chapter 3: Iris Potter meets Draco's friends - Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise Zabini
Chapter 4: Iris Potter agrees to get adopted by the Malfoys. She changes her name to Astra Lily Malfoy
Chapter 5: Astra reads her parents' will and gets a wand
Chapter 6: Astra gets used to life as a Malfoy and Dumbledore finds out where she lives now
Chapter 7: Dumbledork calls for a trial to determine her placement. They find out she was blood-adopted and she stays w/ Malfoys.
Chapter 8: Astra meets her grandfather - Abraxas Malfoy
Chapter 9: Abraxas teaches Astra & Draco about magic - Light, Dark, & Grey. Then, Astra meets Snape and he shows them the cure for boils. Then Astra meets Daphne's sister, Astoria. They all play Quidditch.
Chapter 10: Timeskip! Astra meets Hermione Granger in Diagon Alley.
Chapter 11: Astra and her friends chat on the train and Astra meets Ron Weasley & Neville Longbottom
Chapter 12: Astra is Sorted into Slytherin.
Chapter 13: Astra learns about Slytherin and has her 1st week of class
Chapter 14: Astra has flying lessons, gets in trouble, and enjoys some time with her friends. Reread chapters 12, 13, & 14 if necessary. It may be. I don't really celebrate it but happy St Patrick's Day!
Calm Before The Storm
Chapter 15
Date Updated: 3/17/2021
Words: 3907
Astra was quite unhappy when she did so, but all of her friends tailed her to make sure she turned in the results of the dubbed "Insult-Astra-Night". She complained about it, but no matter what she said, one friend or the other would follow her around for the rest of the day. So eventually, she turned in the results of her essay. The first part was as boring as she could make it, mindlessly droning on about how she acted like a Gryffindor. The second part...was not.
Hermione had written a play-by-play script of everything that happened that night, including Astra's reactions to the insults. The rest of the group were less enthusiastic about turning in names, after all, Severus was quite terrifying and he was her godfather, but as Astra put it, they made their bed - now they had to lie in it.
Cue DAPHNE GREENGRASS: Okay, I've got one. You acted like an uncouth Gryffindor.
Cue ASTRA MALFOY: Not bad, not bad. -writes it down-
Cue DRACO MALFOY: My turn. Gryffindor reincarnate.
ASTRA: I'm not putting that down, brother mine.
DRACO: You have to!
ASTRA: But-
Cue BLAISE ZABINI: Let's vote, all! Who votes Astra writes it down?
-the vote: eight to three-
Cue ASTORIA GREENGRASS: Get writing, Astra!
ASTRA: I hate you all. -writes it down- Who is next in line to torture me now?
BLAISE: Me.
ASTRA: I'm doomed, aren't I?
BLAISE: More like recklessly idiotic and mulish.
ASTRA: You are a sadist.
BLAISE: And proud of it.
-a second passes-
BLAISE: Why isn't your quill moving?
ASTRA: -writes it-alright, Pansy. Murder me.
Cue PANSY PARKINSON: Dementors would die if they tried to kiss you.
ASTRA: That has nothing to do with flying class.
PANSY: I'm bored. Go figure.
ASTRA: -writes down- Why, oh why?
Cue VINCENT CRABBE: Because you are a reckless Gryffindor and all of them die a fiery death. This is yours.
ASTRA: I don't have to write that down, do I?
Cue HERMIONE GRANGER: I already did.
ASTRA: -writes- Professor Snape is going to MURDER YOU ALL and I am going to watch and I am going to SMILE while he does it. And Hermione, you're writing too?
Off-script Author Note: Sorry, Professor. I am bound to write the truth. -Hermione Granger, Ravenclaw
HERMIONE: Yes...and NO, you can't take it!
ASTRA: Dang. OK Greg, your turn.
Cue GREGORY GOYLE: Um. You were really stupid.
ASTRA: Well, at least you're straightforward about it.
-PAUSE.-
ASTRA:-Writes-.
Cue THEODORE NOTT: You were actually quite foolish. The way you framed Weasley was sloppy and you only managed it because McGonagall liked your Gryffindor bio parents.
ASTRA: That's a mouthful. -Sighs-. -Writes it down.- Pauses. - Is McGonagall with two Ls?
HERMIONE: Yes.
ASTORIA: Hurry up. I've been waiting for my turn FOREVER.
ASTRA: Get on with it.
THEO: Don't.
ASTORIA: If you had crashed into the Forbidden Forest and died, the world would be a better place.
ASTRA: Harsh.
BLAISE: So is your face.
DRACO: No piling, Zabini.
BLAISE: Sorry.
ASTRA: Everyone hates me.
THEO: You know we're joking, right.
ASTRA: Um. This whole thing is a joke Theo.
HERMIONE: Could've fooled me.
Cue NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM: Write it down already.
ASTRA: Eager for your turn, are you? -writes it down-.
ASTRA: -moans-Everyone wants a piece of me.
NEVILLE: My turn. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.
HERMIONE: Did you seriously just cackle?
NEVILLE: Sorry. Anyways. Ummm. Uh..YOU AREN'T LIVING UP TO YOUR FATHER'S LEGACY.
ASTRA: WHAT?!
NEVILLE: Sorry. I don't know many insults, so I used my grandmother's.
-MOMENTS PASS.-
ASTRA: Okay, Luna. Your turn.
Cue LUNA LOVEGOOD: You were obviously infected by Wrackspurts that day.
ASTRA: Ummm…-writes Luna's and Neville's.-
HERMIONE: I guess it's my turn.
HERMIONE: Can I skip?
EVERYONE: NO!
HERMIONE: Um. Astra...you were...reckless...and a dunderhead!
DAPHNE: Not bad, Granger. Not bad at all.
-A MOMENT PASSES.-
ASTRA: I guess that's it. Okay, moving on….
DRACO: Where's the big hurrah?
ASTRA:...HURRAH!
Finis
It was a week later when Astra turned in the essay(with Blaise and Draco tailing her to make sure she didn't toss it. She tried three times. Unsuccessfully. At least she tried…). It was the morning, and her friends had insisted she deliver the essay before breakfast, and so that was exactly what she did. As she, Blaise and Draco headed back to breakfast, they found Weasley barring their way to the Great Hall with Finnigan beside him.
"What do you want, Weaselbee, Finnifart?" Draco drawled with a roll of his eye.
"Nothing much," A mean little smirk was on his face. "Just a message from your owl…"
"What?" Astra tried to control her breathing.
"Don't expect any post today, Potter!" Weasley laughed.
"What did you do to Nemesis?" She pulled out her wand. Sparks erupted from it as she pushed it under Weasley's throat.
"Whoa!" Weasley lept back. But then he quickly fixed his smile back into place. "What're you gonna do, Potter? Have your lackeys hex me?"
"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Astra fiercely. "Sunday midnight, if you want. In the trophy room. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact."
"You do know how, right?" Blaise sneered.
"Of course he does!" Finnigan said. "I'm his second. Who's yours, Potter?"
"Mal-foy. My name is Malfoy," Astra growled.
"It's me," Blaise said. "I'm her second, Finnifart."
"We'll wipe the floor with you slimy snakes. Better watch out!" Weasley said angrily.
"In your dreams, Weaselbee," Draco said gleefully. "Or better yet - your nightmares!"
Weasley and Finnigan glared at them angrily and stormed away. Astra watched them run back up the stairs, disappearing to wherever the Gryffindors' Common Room was. Knowing them, it was probably a portrait hole or something. Her mind replayed the scene on loop. It kept coming back to Weasley's smirk.
"Don't expect any post today, Potter!"
"Just a message from your owl…"
Weasley had done something to Nemesis.
"Nemesis!" She murmured softly. Horrific scenes dripped through her thoughts.
Nemesis chained up in a dark room with no light, keening over and over for Astra to rescue her.
Nemesis deprived of her food and water for days…
Nemesis drowned in icy cold water-
She stopped. Nemesis had delivered the post just yesterday. Which meant that Weasley had stolen her last night.
"Nemesis," she said again.
"What about her?" Draco caught on.
"Weasley did something." Astra muttered. "Stupid git he is, I'm not surprised."
"Well, didn't she deliver just yesterday?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, I know. He must have done something…" She bit her lip uncertainly.
"He's probably bluffing." Draco said bracingly. "Don't worry, sister-mine. Nemesis will be fine."
"You say that now," she muttered.
That morning, Nemesis did not return.
Weasley's mean little smirk could be seen from across the hall.
"Where. Is. Nemesis?!" She asked him again, punctuating every syllable.
"I don't know," he lied, and she could tell.
The day after, Nemesis did not return.
Or the day after.
On Friday, Astra made a snap decision.
"Dissimulare."
"Oi, Dean!" Ron called.
"What?"
"I got to use the loo. Meet you at the Common Room for Exploding Snap?"
"Sure. See you there, mate," Dean responded.
Ron waved at him and turned left for the loo, making a show of entering it for Dean before breaking into a run in the opposite direction. As he neared the Owlery, he thought he heard the scuffling of footsteps behind him. He turned around. Nothing.
He continued his stride forward, relaxed and maybe a little annoyed. It had been a monumentally stupid idea to kidnap Potter's owl. The thing pecked at him whenever he tried to feed it, and scratched him whenever it could.
Ron seriously considered just giving it back, but his pride wouldn't let him. That would be like giving up, letting Malfoy - bloody Potter - win. Part of him wanted to just kill it. The other part wanted to let it free. It was all terrible, utterly terrible.
As he entered the Owlery, he heard a whimper behind him as the door shut. He whirled around and saw nothing.
Stupid, Ron thought. Stop being so paranoid. He stepped over to the cupboard where dishrags and other knickknacks were kept, including almost all of the treasures he had found at Hogwarts since he got here. Well, what Fred and George had found.
He saw a Fanged Frisbee among their pile(it was quite prominent in bright orange), a yellow box that seemed quite ominous, and a telescope.
There was more, but Ron's eyes were drawn to a blank parchment. Something felt off about it. He only knew about this cupboard by following Fred and George in without them noticing.
He curiously felt over it. He wanted to explore it more, but he had come here to check on Potter's owl, not mess around.
Ron leaned down and opened the bottom-most drawer. Ah, there it was. Potter's owl hooted pitifully. It seemed to regain some fight in it when it saw Ron. It cawed angrily at him.
"Ugh," Ron groaned. Whatever. It was an ugly owl anyways. He was so out of here. He shoved the drawer closed carelessly, shut the cabinet doors, and exited the room.
Astra released the Concealment Charm and collapsed against the drawer, completely spent. The Charm was an ancient, Malfoy-family invented, Malfoy-family only spell. It was created by Armand Malfoy the Great, who was from France - Dissimulare literally meant "conceal" in French.
"Oh, Neme," she said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry it took me so long." Astra gently picked up the cage Nemesis was in and unlocked it. "We'll make him pay." She lifted Nemesis out. She cooed keenly as Astra lovingly stroked her feathers.
Silently she crept with Nemesis in her hands, still battling exhaustion, out of the Owlery, into the Great Hall, and finally to the Slytherin Common Room. "Astra?" Draco said worriedly as she trudged towards the dorms. "Is that Nemesis?"
"Yes, Draco," she said wearily. She ignored his questions easily as she wrenched open the door to the dorms. Yet another door was in front of her. Meetings. No, not there. Where were the girls' dorms? Astra turned right. Boys' Dorms read the door that was only four feet away. No. She turned around and headed left. Girls' Dorms.
"Ah," she sighed, relieved. Astra swung open the door, careful to avoid hitting Nemesis by accident. She climbed up the tall, spiral staircase - Slytherin Tower was there, just under the sea - and at last, on the fifth floor, found her dorm.
She made a left and saw her bed with its plaque "Astra Malfoy" next to the one that read Daphne Greengrass. She lay back and closed her eyes.
Nemesis hooted.
"Nemesis," she remembered. Neme probably hadn't been fed at all for three whole days! She sat up tiredly and reached into her trunk for her special owl food. She yanked out a pack and allowed Nemesis to peck at it. In another compartment of her trunk, she knew she had an extra perch and cage for Nemesis.
Good, because she didn't want to leave her in the Owlery anymore. "For-" she yawned, "-For now, Neme, just sleep here, okay?"
Neme hooted affirmative.
She pulled out the perch and kept it next to her bed. She opened the door and Neme hopped in, hooting tiredly as she sat herself on the perch and shut her eyes. "I'm tired, Neme," she sighed. Astra closed her eyes. "Night," she mumbled softly. She waited a few seconds and tried to fall asleep.
She couldn't. She knew she was tired, very tired, but still couldn't fall asleep. She squeezed her eyes shut. Nothing. She blinked. Neme was peacefully asleep. Lucky bird.
She rolled over onto her other side, but the blue light from the lake kept her awake. She rolled the other way, where she could not see it. Still, she was unable to sleep. Finally, after quite a while of keeping her eyes shut tightly, Astra fell asleep.
She was back in the Owlery, and instead of Nemesis in the drawer, she saw Professor Quirrell's turban, and heard a loud cackle, a high pitched one, like something not quite human. Quirrell's turban and the drawer suddenly morphed into a laughing Ron Weasley, then to a pretty redhead - her mum.
A terrified expression was frozen on her face, and she was saying something over and over - "not Iris, not Iris!" - and then with a flash of green light, her mum's eyes went blank, someone - her? - screamed shrilly and then there was darkness - all darkness - before the eerie light of the lake claimed her attention, and her eyes snapped open. What had just happened? Astra didn't remember. She rolled over and went back to sleep.
A little while later, Astra had fully woken up. She sat up and tiptoed quietly to the bathroom just next to the dorm that she, Daphne, Millicent, and Pansy shared. She carefully avoided stepping on Pansy's bed on the way. She stared at her face in the mirror. Her hair was mussed, and she looked to be the opposite of the princess she presented herself as. Her green eyes were as bright as ever, but instead of the pride she usually felt at Lily's eyes, she felt a sort of sickness that only comes from memory - but she didn't remember.
Desperate to get another image in her mind(not those eyes, not Mum's eyes), she grabbed a bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and slathered it all over her silver-blond hair, combing through it gently with her fingers. It had a calming effect on her and she stayed there for quite a while, just combing her hair and slowly thinking away the exhaustion.
Once she was sure her hair was back in tiptop condition(perhaps her psyche as well), Astra glanced down at her watch and saw it was already five!
She had promised to meet Neville and Luna on a hunt for Nargles (which Hermione, Theo, and Astoria had opted out of) at five ten. She raced down the spiral staircase and heeded into the Outer Common Room. Draco was there, playing Bavarian Exploding Snap with Blaise and Daphne.
"Astra!" Draco said, surprised, as Astra climbed down the short staircase next to the Prince of Slytherin throne and passed his table. He waved a hand at her airily. "Where have you been?"
"I've been needing to sort some things out lately," she said, skillfully lying, ignoring the pang of guilt in her stomach as she did so. Definitely not stealing Nemesis back from the Owlery, where Weasley hid her after he kidnapped her mid-flight. How ludicrous that sounded. She wouldn't have believed it if someone told her.
"Good on you, then. Join us, won't you?" He asked hopefully. "Daph sucks at Snap, and Blaise...also sucks."
"Hey!" Daphne and Blaise said indignantly in unison.
"Can't, sorry. I promised Luna and Nev that I'd go Nargle-hunting with them." Astra said apologetically in answer to Draco.
"Nargle-what-ing?" Daphne raised an elegant eyebrow artfully.
"Not very sure myself, honestly," Astra said dryly. "But a promise is a promise. Later, you lot."
"Bye," called Blaise as Astra swung the ornate common room door open and left. "Have fun with the 'Claws!"
Astra climbed the stairs tiredly as she evened her breath. She really did need to exercise more if she got tired from a quick Common Room dash. She swung open the staircase door and found herself in the Great Hall.
A few turns and she was at the library - their meeting rendezvous. She was surprised to see not just Neville and Luna by the Mythology section, but Theo and Hermione too.
"Hey, all," she said breathlessly. "Am I late?"
Luna glanced down at the odd, blue watch she carried. "No. Perfectly smorgleforf."
"Good," Astra said a bit uneasily. Smorgleforf...what...best not wonder with Luna... "So, Hermione - I thought you didn't believe in Nargles?" She raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"I don't." said Hermione firmly. "But Luna's often right about things, even if she says them obscurely. So I'm going to look up Nargles and Humdingers and Smorgleforfs and whatever-she-says, and Theo here agreed to help me," she flashed Theo a little smirk.
"More like was coerced into helping you." Theo corrected.
"I want the details-" Astra started excitedly, but Theo interrupted.
"So she comes up to me while I'm trying to finish Snape's essay on the property of wormwood, and she grabs me. I say, 'Granger, what are you doing, by the name of Merlin?'"
"And then I say, 'I'm working on a project.'" Hermione continued. "And he says-"
"'Good for you, Granger. Does your project involve testing how long you can dig your fingernails into my arm before you draw blood?'"
"And I say, 'You should have been a Slytherin, Nott.'" Hermione said a little sourly. "And I'll add that I was completely justified and I didn't even grab your arm that hard-"
"'Why thank you, Miss Granger!'" Theo said with a large smirk. "And then, she, crazy woman she is, says-"
"And then, I tell him politely that no, that is NOT my project." Hermione glared at him as she interrupted.
"So I ask what is her project, and then-" Theo said.
"I tell him that I'm studying Nargles, and that I need his help." Hermione interrupted.
"But of course, I'm busy, and I tell her so-" Theo said.
"And then I kindly, gently-ly, ask him to come with me," Hermione interrupted. "And of course, he obliges...grudgingly."
"Is interrupting me becoming a trend or something?" Theo asked.
"How did you manage that?" Astra asked curiously, ignoring Theo.
"A couple of stinging hexes in the right places can go a long way," Hermione said with a positively evil smile.
"Remind me to never make you mad." Neville shuddered as he winced in male sympathy.
"Gladly." Hermione smirked.
"So," Astra said, "where's Tori?"
"She's in detention," Luna said opaquely. "She punched Draco." She added, then a contemplating expression appeared on her face. "She awfully likes that."
"No. I swear, she should have been a Gryffindor," Astra groaned. "What was it this time?"
"No reason, I think." Theo answered. "Something about it being a while since she last punched him."
"Oh! A Nargle!" Luna said loudly.
"Shhh!" They all hissed.
"Madam Pince will kick us out!" Neville said, glancing around nervously. "Hermione and me know just how bad that can be."
"Hermione and I." Corrected both Theo and Hermione at the same time. They looked at each other, blushed, and looked away again.
"The Nargle," Astra prompted Luna.
"That way!" Luna gestured towards a broom closet behind the shelf titled Magical History.
"No one's...in there, right, Luna?" Neville asked a bit cautiously.
"What do you mean, in there?" Hermione asked.
"I think she means snogging." said Theo with a shudder.
"Oh, gross…" said Hermione.
"Think about what else they do in there." Astra smirked a bit evilly.
Hermione and Theo's eyes widened in unison. "Eww!"
Astra just about managed to restrain herself from cackling at her two bookworm friends.
"Lead the way, Lu," said Neville, clenching his eyes shut tightly as he stepped forward to stand with her.
Luna stepped forward, and the others followed her as they headed towards the broom closet.
"Who wants to open it?" She asked.
"I'll do it," Astra said bravely. She put a shaky hand on the handle and pulled, and onto her fell mistletoe berries galore, hanging on to a branch each. "Ah! Mistletoe!"
"I'd say this is preparation for Yule," said Theo calculatingly.
"Have they enchanted them yet?" Hermione wondered.
"Let's test." suggested Theo. "Astra, try and step away from the mistletoe."
Astra cautiously took a few steps away from the mistletoe on her head. Nothing happened until she took one more step. Then, she felt a force field of some kind stop her from moving further. It did not harm her, but it did restrict her movements.
"Oh, Merlin, no!" said Neville despairingly. "Astra's stuck in the mistletoe!"
Didn't think I'd end it here, but the chapter was getting pretty long, and honestly, the duel should take up a lot of words anyways. So a slight cliffie. Anyways, remember - no chapter 'till I get 50 reviews.
Answer: I'd probably be a fox
Question(s): Who is your favorite Harry Potter character? What would Astra's Animagus form be? Who should Neville end up with? A new thing - give me a long answer, I PM you and you get a chance for an OC of your own to insert. Just know they will have to be older than Astra if you want them in this year. I will PM you, but will not update until 50 reviews.