A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed the story so far! Hopefully you enjoy the next chapter!
The day had arrived. The day they were due to leave for Hogwarts. Astera had been up for hours packing and re-packing her heavy trunk. Should she put the robes on top so they were easy to get to when she needed to change? Or should she put them nearer the bottom so they wouldn't end up smelling like the food the house elves were currently preparing for her? In the end, after switching it round three times, she decided to place the robes on one side of the trunk and the food on the other side with a layer of books in the middle.
Sitting back, Astera smiled, happy that it was done, and reached out to feed her new owl a treat. She'd called him Farren, an old English name referring to the colour of his feathers. He seemed to have taken to her as quickly as she had taken to him, giving her hand an affectionate nip as she stroked it over his head.
Just as she got up to squash down the lid of her bulging trunk, a small hand tapped her on the shoulder.
"Miss Astera?" a loud voice squeaked in her ear.
Astera immediately jumped up in fright. "Dobby!" she admonished. "I told you not to sneak up on me like that!"
"Dobby is very sorry for startling you, Miss," the elf said, hanging his head. "But Dobby knocked on the door three times and Miss didn't hear. Dobby will punish himself."
To the girl's horror, the small elf went to pick up the heavy silver candlestick on the mantelpiece.
"No Dobby!" she cried out and quickly snatched it away from him, placing it back where it came from. "That won't be necessary! I'm sorry I snapped. What did you want?"
"Dobby has come to tell Miss that Mistress wants you to come down for breakfast."
"Oh okay, I'll be down in just a minute. Thank you," she smiled.
Dobby responded with a quick grin before giving a small bow and clicking his fingers, disappearing with a loud crack.
Sighing, Astera quickly checked her appearance in the mirror, woe betide she had a hair out of place, before heading down to the dining room.
The Malfoy family were already there as she entered the room. Lucius was sitting at the head of the table, his cane resting proudly against his chair, with Draco on his right and Narcissa on his left. However, as she walked into the room, all three turned their heads to look at her.
"Late, as usual," Lucius commented, not looking up from where he was reading the Daily Prophet.
"Sorry Sir, I was just finishing packing and lost track of time. I won't let it happen again."
Lucius let out a short bark of laughter and lowered his newspaper, the trademark piercing grey eyes of the Malfoy family glittering at her with cold amusement. "You'd better not. If you let it happen at Hogwarts, you'll go without food. Slytherins don't wait for anybody."
Astera looked down and moved towards the empty seat next to Narcissa. No one said anything more as she sat down and reached out to fill her empty plate.
The clinking of cutlery against china plates was all that could be heard as the family ate their food in silence. Astera wished she could express how excited she was about attending Hogwarts, but she knew Draco and his father would only make some scathing remark at her expense if she did.
"Are you nearly packed, Astera?" Narcissa asked finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Yes," the girl answered, pausing to shovel the last of her egg into her mouth. "I only need to pack a couple more things, I'll be ready for whenever you want to leave."
"We will be leaving at quarter to eleven," Lucius interrupted, glaring at the young witch as though she was already running late. "Astera, you will be apparating with Narcissa and Draco with myself."
"Then please may I be excused?" Astera asked, having had enough of her guardian's accusing glares.
"Yes, but do not be late," Lucius warned.
"I won't be," Astera assured him before slipping out of her chair and escaping the room as quickly as possible.
Once back in her room, she let her excitement take over again as she looked around her now rather bare room. She would soon be out of Malfoy Manor, out of the way of Lucius's cruel temper and scathing remarks. At least until Christmas anyway.
Cleaning her teeth and picking up her washbag, Astera packed the last few bits into her trunk, including the neat package of food that had been left on her bed, and forced the lid shut, securing the clasps on the side. Then, grabbing hold of the handle, she tried to drag it out of her room, just about reaching the top of the stairs before a voice stopped her.
"Why didn't you summon Dobby to carry that, you foolish girl?" Lucius demanded.
"If I'm struggling, how could Dobby manage? You said he wasn't allowed to use the floating spell in this house after he dropped that trunk on your foot last year," Astera protested.
"He's a servant, Astera. That's what he's there for," Lucius replied curtly before calling for the house elf.
Dobby appeared instantly. "Master called Dobby?"
"Take this trunk downstairs, and don't drop it," Lucius ordered.
The elf complied at once and Astera winced when his tiny feet skidded against the floor as he struggled to even pull it an inch. She continued to watch with bated breath as Dobby slowly made his way down the stairs.
It was about half way down when it grew too much for the little elf. With a small cry, he tripped and the suitcase went crashing down over him. Astera let out a gasp and covered her eyes. She'd known this wasn't going to end well.
However, she peeked out a few seconds later when the crashing didn't continue. Next to her, Lucius had flicked his wand and stopped the trunk and it was now lazily floating down to land gently on the rug at the bottom.
Dobby stood up shakily from where he had fallen, glancing up at Lucius with his large orb-like eyes.
"What did I just tell you?" Lucius spat at him, his fingers flexing on his cane.
The elf trembled in fear. "Dobby is sorry, Master. Dobby will go and iron his hands as punishment."
Astera winced and looked up at Lucius. How could he let anyone do that as punishment? It was cruel and uncalled for, given the circumstances. But the man's were cold and hard as he stared down at the elf.
With one last glance at Astera, Dobby scurried away, leaving her and Lucius stood at the top of the stairwell. Not even looking the girl, the wizard moved his cane, indicating for Astera to go down first, and, swallowing nervously, she did as she was bade, all the while aware that Lucius was watching her every movement.
"Right then, are we all ready?" Lucius asked once they had all gathered in the hallway.
"Yes, father," Draco responded, gripping his trunk with one hand and his father's arm with the other.
"Then we will see you there, Narcissa," the man drawled, ignoring Astera completely.
The two disappeared in a swirl of dark mist and Astera tensed, waiting for the familiar tug of nausea that came with side-along apparation.
"Hold on tight," Narcissa warned before their surroundings disappeared in a blur.
When everything cleared, they were stood in a bustling platform, next to where a gleaming scarlet engine stood, the Hogwarts emblem blazoned on the front. Steam was billowing out of the funnel, indicating that the train would be moving very shortly.
"Wow," Astera whispered, gazing in awe at her surroundings.
"Keep moving," Narcissa hissed in her ear, taking her arm in a harsh grip and dragging her along. "We need to find Lucius and Draco."
The crowds seemed to move apart as the older witch led the way down the platform and Astera tried not to stumble as she was dragged along, her heavy trunk constantly trying to pull her back.
Draco was already stood talking to Crabbe and Goyle by the time Narcissa and Astera found them. Lucius was stood tall, surveying the people around him with a look of distaste gracing his features.
"Narcissa dear," he greeted as his wife went to stand next to him, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. He didn't even spare Astera a glance, as the two went over to say their farewells to Draco.
"Goodbye then," Astera said after them, and dragged her trunk towards the nearest carriage.
Stepping up onto the train, she tried to pull the heavy suitcase up behind her, but no matter how hard she pulled, she could not get it up the step.
"Do you need help here?" a friendly voice asked.
"I believe she does need some help, Fred," another voice intervened.
"Come on then, help me before the train leaves without us," the first voice said.
Before Astera could say anything, the two boys, twins, took a bottom corner each and, with one push, heaved the trunk up and into the carriage.
"Thank you," Astera said.
"No problem," one of the twins replied, flashing her a cheeky grin. "I'm George by the way."
"And I'm Fred," the other one butted in.
"Well it's nice to meet you both," Astera smiled, not wanting to tell them her name. She knew who they were, the red hair gave it away. They were Weasleys.
"Well, I guess we'll see you around then," George smiled as they both jumped out of the carriage and started off down the platform.
"Yes, thanks again!" Astera called after them, before turning back and trying to pull her trunk out of the way of other students trying to board the train.
"Astera!" It was Draco's voice from further down the carriage. "Hurry up!"
Rolling her eyes, Astera said "I'm coming," before attempting to follow him.
Once she'd reached Draco's compartment, she hesitated, realising that he was sat with a few of their childhood friends. Or rather, Draco's friends, and her tormentors. Crabbe and Goyle were sat smirking at something Draco had said. Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass were also there, chattering in the corner along with another boy that Astera didn't recognise. There was only one space left in the compartment, so she quickly went and stood by it, wondering how on earth she was going to lift her case up onto the rack.
"Do you need some help with your trunk there?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
Astera looked to her right in surprise. The boy sat there was looking up at her with a kind smile. She eyed him cautiously.
"I'm Theodore Nott by the way, although most people call me Theo," he said as he stood up.
"I'm Astera, Astera Lestrange."
"Oh yes, my father has mentioned your father a few times." Astera looked at him in surprise. "I believe they were great friends back in the day. You live with the Malfoys right?" he continued, grabbing one end of her trunk. Astera grabbed the other end.
"Yes I do. Although I'm not sure they were too happy about it." She looked over at Draco, who was scowling at them.
"Well us purebloods are not exactly well known for our affection," he replied with a small wink. "Now, should we get this trunk up? On three?"
Astera smiled back and nodded.
"Alright then. One… two… three!"
The two attempted to lift the trunk, just about managing to heave it into the rack above them, sliding to the back with a large thud.
"Merlin, what have you got in there?" Theo laughed as the two sat down.
"Probably a collection of books to rival the Hogwarts library itself," she chucked. "Sorry."
"Don't be," he smiled easily, giving her a knowing look as she retrieved the copy of Hogwarts: A History that she had snuck into her bag. He turned back to the conversation in the room, and Astera opened the book, hoping to avoid speaking to anybody else.
However, it didn't take her long to be interrupted. In fact, she was only in the middle of the first chapter about the sky of the Great Hall when Draco spoke up.
"Reading again, are we Astera?" he drawled, smirking slightly.
The girl felt her cheeks heat up, but ignored him, not taking her gaze away from the page. She could feel all eyes on her as she stared at the words in front of her, but she didn't give in. She was not about to be humiliated again.
Eventually Pansy broke the silence.
"Draco was talking to you, Astera," she sniped in that high pitch, really irritating voice. "Are you just going to ignore him?"
Astera felt the heat of annoyance spark within her. She looked up slowly. "Well, I think it's rather obvious that I'm reading, Pansy. And it is quite hard to do that when I'm constantly being interrupted." She glared at the girl pointedly.
Pansy sneered but said nothing else, and after a few moments of awkward silence, the conversation started up again quietly, leaving Astera able to turn back to her book. She smirked to herself, pleased that she'd had the last word for once. Perhaps this would be the start of a new era. One where she wasn't constantly beaten down.
Astera was about halfway through when she was next roused from the pages of her book by a jolt of the carriage. Looking up, she realised that Draco, Gregory and Vincent had all left the compartment.
Astera turned to Theo. "Where did Draco go?" she asked.
"Apparently Harry Potter is on the train. They've all gone to find him."
Astera rolled her eyes. "Of course they have. No doubt Draco wants to befriend him just so he can say he's friends with the Boy Who Lived."
"Why are you so horrible to my Draco?" Pansy's voice whined from the corner.
"Your Draco?" Theo scoffed.
Pansy sat up straighter and smirked. "Yes, we've basically been engaged since birth," she said manner-of-factly. "Mother says that if we don't end up married then she'll eat her wand."
Astera merely rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure Draco would be very lucky to have you, Pansy," Theo said, a touch of amusement in his voice.
At that point they were saved from anymore of Pansy's whiney voice as the door to the compartment was pushed roughly to the side and in stormed Draco himself, closely followed by the two bumbling idiots. He plonked himself down opposite Astera, eyes thundery and his lips curled into a scowl.
"Did you find him, Drakey?" Pansy asked in an attempt to gain his attention.
Draco's scowl deepened. "Yes, but he has clearly taken after his mudblood mother. He's made friends with a… a Weasley!" he spat out.
Astera couldn't help the small grin that appeared on her face. Of course Draco was grumpy. He wouldn't expect a pureblood and someone so famous to choose a Weasley over a Malfoy. His pride was hurt.
"What are you smiling at, Lestrange?" the boy almost snarled.
The grin dropped and there was a twinge in her chest at the use of her last name.
"Nothing Draco, just something in the book," she managed, forcing out a small smile. Then added: "It's getting dark, we must nearly be there. I'm going to go and change into my robes."
Without waiting for a response, she stood up and reached for her trunk.
"Yeah, whatever, Miss Know-It-All," Pansy sneered at her when Draco said nothing.
Astera merely rolled her eyes, pulling out her robes and walking out of the compartment in search of the toilets.
A few minutes later, the girl that stared back at her out of the mirror, dressed in the smart black gown of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was barely recognisable as Astera Lestrange. Her cheeks were flushed, her dark eyes were sparkling and even her hair didn't seem as dull as usual. She was actually happy, happy to be away from the Malfoys, from the manor house and from feeling like an outsider.
Finally, at Hogwarts, she would have the chance to start afresh, and she couldn't wait.
