Chapter 21: A new era
We all started awake at the same time, the cause being the shrill blast of the ten-minute warning whistle signaling us to start saying our good-byes. The hallways connecting our compartments began to bustle with commotion as students met with friends, and boyfriends or girlfriends.
We ventured out to say goodbye to a few of our fellow sixth year Ravenclaws-Su Li, Morag Macdougal, Lisa Turpin, and Padma Pail-another foursome group of best friends. It was funny how that seemed to work out-assign four nervous eleven year olds to share a room together, and several years later they will have seemed to become more sisters than friends.
After exchanging goodbyes with them, we passed Seamus Finnigan-he seemed to be looking sideways at Lucy, who I noticed was laughing particularly loud at something Julie had sad, surreptitiously flipping her hair. Seamus seemed to be making up his mind about something as his friend Dean Thomas clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Lucy?" He grinned as he approached us, with eyes only for my black-haired friend. She looked up at him shyly, twisting her pale hands behind her back. Giggling, I shoved Julie and Sarah forward, looking back and grinning hugely as I saw Seamus began to talk to her as we watched from a distance. They didn't even seem to realize the students weaving past them-and when Lucy stood on her toes to kiss Seamus's cheek, a great smile erupted on his face to match her own.
Julie and Sarah and I were grinning furiously at each other as Lucy walked toward us, cheeks red and a huge smile lighting up her face. I saw Seamus turn to sneak another peek at her before turning back to talk to Dean, Harry, and Ron, who were laughing and clapping him on the back.
We gathered Lucy into a hug, continuing down the hallways and tossing goodbyes to fellow classmates, among our bombardment of questions directed at Lucy.
She told us what he'd said- (that he liked her and if she wanted to write to him, he would love it) and when she'd gotten over her crush on the boy who lived (months ago) and when she realized she'd liked Seamus-less than half a month ago when he had been going out with a fifth year named Bernadette, who he had broken up with since then-but she'd realized that she minded.
I was happy as could be for Lucy and Seamus but to my surprise a sadness also surfaced in the pit of my stomach when the two of them reminded me of Draco and myself. I hoped their future relationship would be easier than Draco's and mine had been so far.
No one was in their compartment, and everyone in the crowded hallways as the train pulled into the station. I was standing near Daphne and her Slytherin friends with my owl Ravenclaw ones, who were receiving odd looks from the Slytherins.
"Astoria?" Came Ginny's voice as she came toward us alone. "You ready?"
"Yeah, one minute." I turned to my friends one last time, and we crushed each other into a hug, arms flung around our backs. We all talked over each other, promising to write, vowing to visit. Then I hugged my sister one last time, a slight pressure building in my eyes as I walked towards Ginny, turning back to my friends and sister one last time to wave.
They were swallowed up by the crowd, and I turned back to see Ginny looking at me oddly.
"You alright, Tori?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I attempted a cheerful grin, trying to cover up rubbing my eyes before the years managed to spill. "So who'll be coming to the Burrow, anyway?" I questioned.
"Well, there's my parents, Ron and myself, Fred and George, though they'll be at their joke shop in Diagon Alley some of the time," she started as we weaved through the crowded hallways toward the nearest door. "Charlie, my other brother, may visit, and Harry's spending tonight at our house since it's so late and because the Dursleys-that's his aunt and uncle-won't drive out at this time of night. But he'll be coming to our place later this summer as well. Then Bill, who you met, and his fiancee Fleur, who you also met," her tone changed a bit as she mentioned the name of the part-veela.
"You don't like Fleur much, do you?" I laughed, already imagining what fun the summer would be with a houseful of friends, the Weasleys.
"Ah, no. Se eez tap dancing on my last neeerve!" She exclaimed in a nasally impression of Fleur's throaty French accent, sending us both into peals of laughter. From this moment on I knew Ginny and I would be good friends.
"Also, Hermione will be here later this summer, in July-and you'll be invited to Bill and Fleur's wedding, too," she continued.
I nodded as we got closer to Ron and Hermione, and Harry, who was looking at Ginny with an almost wistful look on his face. Turning to Ginny, confused, I started-
"Are you and Harry still..." I trailed off, unable to find the right words.
"Er...no. I'll tell you later," she whispered as we approached the three.
"Hello, Astoria!" Hermione greeted me cheerfully.
"Hey, Hermione," I smiled back, greeting the boys as well. We gripped the edges of the door frames and handles as the train slowed to a stop, letting out a long whistle as we pulled into the station. I heard the long hiss of steam as the train lurched to a stop-I was so caught up in searching out the windows for my parents, even though I knew they wouldn't be coming, that I almost didn't notice students had already began to pile out of the train into eagerly awaiting parents' arms.
"Hey, come on, don't want to lose you!" Ron said, reaching back and quickly grabbing my arm before too many people closed the gap between us. "Though I suppose if that did happen, you could just stand on your toes and look for all the red hair, there's sure a lot of us," he mused as we hogged to catch up with the others. I laughed at his observation, coming to stand by Ginny and Harry as they said goodbye to Hermione.
"By Hermione," I think I surprised her by pulling her into a hug, but she smiled warmly as we drew back.
"Bye, Astoria. I'll see you next month?"
"Maybe sooner, if you can come for her birthday," Ginny mused. I looked at her, startled.
"How'd you know my birthday was coming up?"
"I asked Julie," she grinned. "So we could have a party."
"Oh, there's my parents!" said Hermione, grinning as she looked to her parents, who seemed to be watching, fascinated, at the barrier as families rushed forward to break through the seemingly solid wall. "Ah, they've figured out the wall this year," Hermione thought aloud, muttering. Ron held his arms out as they hugged a bit awkwardly, but both of them were covering smiles as they let go. She hugged Harry and Ginny as well, and myself once more, and then rushed toward her parents, rolling her luggage up to them, parking it to fling her arms around her mum and dad. Ron was the last one to look away from the scene, tearing his eyes away as Ginny announced-
"There's Mum and Dad and Bill and Phlegm!" They had just spotted us, and we hauled our luggage over to meet them.
"Oh, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley pulled the person nearest her into a hug, smiling and smothering him as though he were her own son. Arthur greeted him next, shaking hands with him as did Bill, and Fleur kissed both of his cheeks, causing Ginny to pointedly look away.
After greeting the rest of us, Arthur began to ask Harry animatedly about something that sounded vaguely like an "airplane" which I knew was something like a muggle machine, a way of transportation.
Completely caught off guard, I was caught up in Mrs. Weasley's motherly hug, being squeezed with the perfect amount of pressure that could only be perfected by thousands of hugs. She smiled at me tenderly, saying-"Not to worry, dear, don't fret about a thing. You stay with us just as long as you need," she patted my cheek and then shook Arthur's hand as he grinned crookedly, blue eyes twinkling. I next shook hands with Bill, who still managed to have a glowing smile despite his long claw marks. I realized I had been wrong about him earlier-his battle scars were not the most prominent feature about him-not when he smiled. Then his glowing grin was, and it seemed to diminish the appearance of the wounds. Fleur next kissed my quickly on both cheeks as she had done Harry, and I already felt accepted.
I let go of Arthur Weasley's arm as a few more pops of apparation sounded around us, and I swallowed hard at an attempt to settle the slight nausea that still fought at my stomach after apparation I looked up at he tall, shack-like by homey looking house-it was like an old, comfortable pair of jeans that fit just right-with patches. Lots and lots of patches. I found myself grinning as the Weasleys began to stride past me to walk inside-Ginny, seeing the lights on, flung open the door and announced loudly-"I'm home!"
"It's not much, but it's home," Ron explained, stepping up behind me as a wind blew my hair backward.
"Well, mine's much, but it never felt like much of a home," I mused. "And this is a change for the better I love it already," I told him, grinning at the apparent shock on his face.
"You're not much like those other pure bloods, are you? The wealthy ones, I mean?"
"I'm a blood traitor," I announced proudly as if saying I had just won the Quidditch cup for my team. "I was alone ay my house before, being a blood traitor and all. But now I'm not alone, am I?"
"Most definitely not," Ron laughed with me at the obviousness of the statement. "We've got more blood traitors in this house than all of Hogwarts," I laughed as he pushed the door open for me as we had began to walk-
"Welcome to the Burrow," he finished.
The summer was almost pure bliss for the inhabitants of the Burrow-we were almost cut off from the effects of Voldemort's rise with in our safe sphere of midnight Quidditch games and big meals where everyone cooked, ate, and cleaned together. To minimize stress, Arthur would skim the rather grimmer section of the Daily Prophet, telling us only news of those we had known. And, thank Merlin, that was to a bare minimum. Most of them were distant acquaintances of Molly and Arthur, anyway.
By the night of my birthday I had put my parents completely out of my mind, and was happier than I'd ever been outside of Hogwarts with a steady stream of thick letters coming in from Daphne and my friends-days full of fun work, which I was discovering was possible-and of course, just plain fun. We were almost oblivious to the outside reign of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We never talked about it if we could help it, but it was present in everyone's minds just before we went to bed at night especially, and when Arthur's grim eyes skimmed through the newspapers in the mornings.
I slipped into the routine of being an honorary Weasley (as Fred and George jokingly called me) without even realizing it.
The only downside was no Draco. I was waiting for him to come in unexpectedly, like he said he would, but he hadn't.
I had almost given up hope.
Until the night before my seventeenth birthday, that was.
"Come on!" Fred started.
"Pass the quaffle!" He and George finished simultaneously. Grinning wickedly I quickly tossed the home-made Quidditch ball blindly over my head, knowing Ginny would catch it behind me. I swooped around in the darkened air and watched as Ginny passed to Ron just as Fred (I think it was Fred, anyway-it was too dark to be sure-when I asked, both twins answered-"No, I'm Fred! Honestly!") reached his own arm out in a failed attempt to knock the ball from her arm. The teams were Ginny, Ron and I against the twins. Ron chucked the ball into our make-shift goalpost-a levitating wicker basket.
"Whoo!" Ron pumped his first into the air. I high-fived with Ginny as I passed, laughing at Fred and George complaints-
"Oh, come on, Ronnikins-"
"It's dark out, and-"
"Your eyes are younger than ours!" They chorused together.
"And besides, we're only going easy on the birthday girl!" Fred shouted, retreating the quaffle.
"Look!" Ginny pointed above us where a cluster of fireflies began to blink. We all congregated in the middle of the field, hovering a few feet above the ground while Fred and George launched into a story where monsters came to steal girls away the night before they turned of age.
"So is Mal-er, Draco coming tomorrow?" Ron revised his statement after a pointed look from Ginny.
"Erm...I don't know," I looked down, suddenly involving myself with picking at a spot on my broomstick. "He said be wouldn't be able to warn me when he was coming, so..."
"That's okay, you have us!" George batted his eyes at me, and I pushed his head back playfully. I noticed Ginny was looking at me with an expression of sympathy, and I realized the youngest Weasley was going through as I was, but harder.
Later we stored our brooms in the shed, yawning and talking about coming of age, and losing the trace.
We were still talking loudly as we walked through the door, my eyes scanning over those eating what looked to be Molly Weasley's midnight meals at the table.
Bill and Fleur, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and-
"Draco?" Came Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George's voice at the same time as my-
"DRACO!" as my heart missed a beat at the much missed sight of my boyfriend.
My feet were propelling themselves as Draco stood up and I ran to him, smiling madly as I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his torso.
"Happy birthday, love," he whispered.
"Thanks," I whispered back, my heart pounding madly against my ribcage.
There was a silence at first, but as I pulled back to look into his eyes and he gathered me into a passionate kiss the sound of applause burst out around us, and I could barely manage to kiss him back as a grin lit my entire face. Who would have known that the day before my seventeenth birthday I would be with the Weasleys, in their kitchen, embracing Draco Malfoy, the boy I loved.
And have the luck of being surrounded by those who I had come to adore like my own family, while they clapped and wolf-whistled-well, that last was the twins, mainly, and maybe Bill.
And I realized it was true-love really does change you.
Severus Snape inspected the headmaster's office coldly. It was still full of Dumbledore's things; no matter, they could be removed. It was his now.
Severus whirled to face Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Fenrir Greyback, Bellatrix Lestrange. They looked back at him silently, awaiting his instruction.
"A new era at Hogwarts," he began quietly. "Has begun."
A\N-Yes, it's slightly AU, but it's not absolutely horrible that Astoria's in the Burrow, is it? Don't get your wand in a twist. ;) Just kidding, of course. I love all you readers! Thanks!
ATTENTION! PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE A FAN OF HARRY POTTER! (THAT MEANS YOU!)
I was originally going to make a sequel to this, but it's only eight chapters long. So I'm thinking I am just going to put it on the end, and call it part two...so, the next chapter will be...Part Two. Stronger with Time-Dawn of a New Era.
This is the end of Love Changes you...but...
The end is only the beginning.
To be continued...eight chapter left.