Chapter Twelve – Humble Pie:
Astoria had thought, given the lack of schoolwork, that Daphne would have more free time over the Holiday with which to spend with Astoria in the library. She was mistaken however when, during the week leading up to the Yule Ball, Daphne was interested in little else then spending time with her friends.
It turned out that Stephan Edgecombe really was the only student Astoria's age who had remained in the castle over Christmas. Astoria wondered why he had, but then recalled that he had an older sister, Marietta, who would no doubt be going to the ball. As such, Astoria spent the next week sulking in the library by herself and avoiding Stephan at all costs.
Christmas morning dawned bright and cold, and Astoria awoke in her empty dormitory to find a pile of gifts at the base of her bed. She spent several enjoyable but noticeably silent moments in opening and admiring the presents her mother, aunt, and grandparents had sent her, and then bundled into several sweaters to go down to breakfast.
The Great Hall was swarming with students. Twelve towering and sparkling Christmas trees stood by the walls and streamers in silver and gold were looped across the ceiling. There was a definite aura of frenzied excitement about the place. Teachers were sitting at the Staff Table, grinning but evidently nervous about the coming night, and watching the students carefully lest they do something to compromise the coming ball.
Astoria was reminded forcefully, with a muffled pang of frustration in her stomach, of the Ministry parties her mother would throw on occasion before Astoria and Daphne had been at Hogwarts. It was always the rule that Daphne and Astoria were to be in bed before the guests arrived and not allow themselves to be seen.
In one of the rare occasions of disregarding their mother's wishes, Daphne and Astoria had used to creep to the top of the stairs and listen to the soft strains of music and babbling voices in the drawing room. Sometimes they could even convince their pale and wrinkled house-elf, Brownie, to bring them a few morsels of food, she bobbing apologetically about the "poor, little mistresses" while they licked their fingers.
Here was yet another elegant and alluring party that Astoria was not allowed to go to. She thought idly of Sara's teasing about sneaking down to the Ball. Astoria knew it was ridiculous; after all, there wouldn't be any way to sneak passed the teachers, and if she did get in, the older students would recognize her as not belonging, and there wouldn't be anyone for Astoria to hang out with – and, besides, she hadn't anything to wear.
Astoria sighed. Daphne approached from Slytherin table and gave Astoria a hug.
"Happy Christmas," she said cheerily, evidently anticipation of the Ball making her exceptionally good-hearted.
"Happy Christmas," said Astoria, trying to muster as much liveliness as Daphne exhibited. Suddenly she wished very much that Daphne hadn't come over, that she had stayed happily over at Slytherin table with her friends, gossiping about the Yule Ball.
Astoria had, of course, been jealous of Daphne before. She had been jealous of Daphne growing up, jealous of the relationship she shared with their mother, jealous when Daphne had gone away to Hogwarts and left Astoria alone for two years, jealous of Daphne's beauty, of her shining blond hair, dazzling smile, and because she had started wearing a brassiere when she was eleven and Astoria had only started wearing one this year. And she'd just turned thirteen.
But now Astoria felt a whole new level of jealousy toward Daphne. She was jealous that Daphne was older, old enough to have a boyfriend, old enough to go to the Yule Ball. That Daphne got to go to a party that night, to have fun on Christmas, to dance with her boyfriend, perhaps be kissed beneath the mistletoe, to dress up and laugh with friends and enjoy the Holiday and –
And Astoria would be up in her dormitory, reading or trying to fall asleep.
It took all her will not to snap at Daphne to leave her alone.
"What did Mum send you?" said Daphne. They discussed their Christmas presents for a moment and then exchanged the gifts they had ordered by owl for one another. Astoria could tell Daphne wanted to discuss the Yule Ball, but Astoria firmly guided the conversation away from it.
Finally – it had seemed like forever – Daphne darted away again to giggle with Tracey Davis and Sophie Roper and Astoria left the Great Hall, thinking despondently of writing letters to Sara and Melissa, wishing them a Happy Christmas.
The day passed slowly. Astoria yearned so much to be included in the festivities of the Ball that she almost persuaded herself to convince Daphne into letting her into her Slytherin dormitory, so that Astoria could help Daphne dress. But, knowing Daphne would object – after all, the secrecy of the House common room locations was imperative – Astoria held her tongue.
She contented herself with blinking away a few hot tears and when the time of the Yule Ball approached, she sat in the corner of the common room, watching the older students get ready, the girls fixing their hair, the boys nervous pulling at their ties, students pairing with their dates, and leaving in bunches to the Great Hall.
Wrestling with her desire to get even a peak of the party, finally Astoria decided that she wouldn't be directly breaking any rules if she should sneak down to the entrance hall and briefly look in, just to see if the rumors of Dumbledore booking the Weird Sisters were true, to find out who the Champions were taking as their partners, to see how Daphne looked in her dress robes.
As soon as Astoria had decided this she'd snapped shut her book and hopped up her chair as if this had been her intention all along. She tried to look unassuming as she passed the older students, hoping they might think she only planned to go for a stroll down the corridors. As soon as the door had shut behind her, she dashed down the stairs, heart leaping in excitement, almost as if she had discovered she was going to the Ball, not only briefly glancing in.
Her heart continued to patter as she moved through the hallways, no longer running as she frequently passed other students on their way to the Great Hall. Astoria felt very conspicuous walking amongst the older students, them in their brightly colored dress robes while she was still wearing her plain, black school uniform with a sweater pulled over her head.
Sounds of light, instrumental music and many babbling voices rose to meet her as she drew closer to the Great Hall. She came to a stop atop the great, marble stairwell that led into the entrance hall, gasp rising to her lips.
The entrance hall had been transformed. Everlasting icicles hung sparkling from the ceiling. Garland in red, green, and gold were strung from the walls. Hedges sprung from the cobblestone floor, forming a twisting, elegant imitation of a garden. Hogwarts students speckled the floor. Professor McGonagall and Mr. Filch stood at the doorway of the Great Hall, evidently checking students before they were admitted.
Astoria's heart sunk. There was clearly no way in, then. Although – of course – she'd never intended to try. Really.
Astoria looked for her sister but couldn't see Daphne among the other students, some waiting for dates from different Houses, or chatting with friends before going in. She wondered if her sister had already gone into the Hall, or was running late from the Slytherin dungeons. Anyway, Daphne would no doubt be too absorbed with Theodore Nott to take note of Astoria. Daphne would probably be irked that Astoria had shown up.
Astoria took a seat quietly in a dark corner at the top of the stairs and tried to content herlself with watching the passing couples. She recognized Fleur Delacour with Roger Davies, Ravenclaw Quidditch caption. She searched for the other champions and found Cedric Diggory with Cho Chang, Seeker for the Ravenclaw team. Harry Potter was standing near the corner, looking nervous and small standing next to Cedric – who looked very attractive in a high-collared set of black robes. Potter had come with a dark, pretty girl who Astoria didn't know. Astoria also found Viktor Krum, looking happier and rather handsomer than she'd ever seen him before, holding out his arm to a very pretty girl that Astoria also didn't know.
Astoria sighed again, not managing to stifle the painful yearning in her chest, wondering what it would feel like to be wearing her own set of flowing dress robes, on the arm of a handsome, dashing young man, flutters of excitement, nerves, and anticipation –
"Miss Greengrass," said a snide voice behind her.
Astoria jumped, leaping to her feet and whirling around. She found herself faced with a grim and looming Professor Snape, yellow, greasy, and unpleasant as ever.
"What," he sneered, "may I ask, are you doing here?"
Astoria felt her cheeks flush. She immediately realized that she very much hoped no one would notice she and Professor Snape. She wouldn't want anyone to think she'd been trying to sneak in. "I was – I mean – I was only watching…."
"No student younger than fourth year are to be admitted to the Ball, Miss Greengrass," said Snape.
"I know," said Astoria, stomach twisting, cheeks pulsing with heat. She said again, quietly, "I was only watching."
"I suggest you go up to bed, Miss Greengrass," said Snape, and added, "Where you belong."
Astoria hastily made her retreat, apologizing profusely, saying all the right things, anxious to get out from under Snape's eyes, but inwardly seething at his interference. Astoria hadn't been hurting anything, just watching the older students having fun. She didn't see why Snape had had to step in. She wondered if it made Professor Snape irritable, to see so many others having a good time.
Strains of instrumental music followed her up the stairs as Astoria wandered glumly back to Ravenclaw common room. She may have been at odds with the world but Astoria somehow found it in her to hope Daphne, at least, might have a good time.
When she'd reached the Ravenclaw tower, answered the riddle, and stepped inside the common room, she discovered that Stephan, once again, was sitting before the stove. He looked up as she entered.
Their eyes met and Astoria scowled at him for good measure. She began to walk toward the stairway leading to the dormitories when a voice unexpectedly called her back.
"Were the Weird Sisters there?"
Astoria turned on her heel. "What?" she snapped. Stephan's blush gave him away. Then it had, in fact, been he who had spoken.
"Where they –" he babbled for a moment incoherently. "I mean – I'd heard – I was only wondering – never seen them in concert…."
Astoria felt as though the hinge on her jaw had been broken. She couldn't seem to close it. "I – erm – no. I mean, I didn't see."
"Oh," said Stephan, fiddling with the pages of the book he had been reading, fingering them, flipping them back and forth, shutting the cover. He cleared his throat. "Erm – goodnight, then."
"Yes," Astoria echoed, too amazed to wonder – ponder what on earth Stephan was doing, what he might be planning, whether or not this was some sort of twisted trap. "Goodnight."
She turned back around and marched up the stairs, hearing the door snap shut behind her. Her head was whirling. Stephan wasn't supposed to like her. She certainly didn't like him. Then what – what on earth had that been? What on earth had possessed him to suddenly start up a – to suddenly seem as if he'd wanted to make a casual conversation….
Astoria honestly didn't know what to make of it.
Astoria raced down to the library as soon as she had woken and gotten dressed the next morning. Daphne and she had made plans over the week to meet there on Saturday, to discuss the Yule Ball and hopefully make some headway in their search for information about their father.
Astoria felt as if she was about to burst from enthusiasm. She was desperate to spend the day in human company, having spent so much of her time alone or with books. Besides, she wanted to know what had happened the night before.
Much to Astoria's chagrin, Daphne didn't wander into the library until half passed ten, looking sleepy and munching on a piece of toast.
"Hello," said Astoria brightly, sitting up and laying aside her book. "How was last night?"
Daphne smiled wryly. "Certainly don't waste much time, do you?"
Astoria shook her head. "Nope. How was last night? Were the Weird Sisters there? Did you dance? How was the food?"
Daphne laughed. "Brilliant, yes, yes, and wonderful." She and Astoria walked toward their usual isle. Once again they were the only ones in the library. Madame Pince eyed them from her desk but seemed somewhat less suspicious than usual. Perhaps she was getting used to them.
"Well?" said Astoria impatiently. "Tell me! What happened?"
"Nothing happened," said Daphne. "It was just a great night, alright? There was dancing and food and the Weird Sisters played all my favorite songs."
"And…well," Astoria fought a blush from climbing up her cheeks, "how was your date?"
Daphne smiled crookedly. "Theo was fine. He even danced with me, even though he'd said he wouldn't."
Astoria smiled, still trying to erase the unpleasant picture of imagining Theodore Nott dancing, but tried to be happy on her sister's account.
"Who did all the champions go with?" asked Astoria. "I saw Diggory with Chang and Fleur with Davies but I didn't know who Potter and Krum were with."
"You saw…?" said Daphne, eyebrows furrowing.
Astoria blushed. "I mean – I just came down to peak, Daphne."
Daphne's rose her eyebrows and smiled but didn't say anything. "Potter went with one of the Patil twins, I don't know which one."
"Oh," said Astoria, placing the name. One of the Patil twins, Padma, was a Ravenclaw fourth year, the other was a Gryffindor.
"And Krum," said Daphne, frowning. "Well, Krum went with Granger, which was utterly outrageous. She's not even pretty."
"What?" said Astoria. "Hermione Granger? Harry Potter's friend? But that wasn't – that couldn't have been her!" Astoria was astounded. The girl she had seen Krum with had looked nothing like Hermione Granger, the same girl who had cornered Astoria, Sara, and Melissa in the entrance hall with that ridiculous spiel on Elf Rights.
Daphne nodded. "It was her. I don't know what he sees in her. She's a complete bore –"
"And she's Mug – ugly." Astoria fumbled for a moment with her voice, slurring the two words together. She couldn't believe – but that hadn't been what she'd meant to say at all. The gossip had entirely and abruptly lost its allure.
Daphne didn't seem to notice anything strange in Astoria's behavior, but continued to say, "Krum must have brought her to try to get information on Potter. There's no other reason why an international Quidditch star like him might want to be seen with a horrible little bookworm like her."
Astoria felt deflated and shaky, vaguely sick. She'd been about to say but she's Muggle-born. Yes, Hermione Granger was Muggle-born. What did it matter that she was Muggle-born? For all Astoria knew, Viktor Krum could be Muggle-born. It didn't matter – wasn't supposed to matter.
She thought that she had gotten over it all. She thought that she had accepted Muggle-borns through Sara, that she had ceased to categorize them as lesser beings, that she had…. It had only been a slip of the tongue. Astoria had been encouraged into a certain mindset by the presence of her sister.
Astoria hadn't meant it. She couldn't have meant it.
But perhaps she had only fallen for her own con, that she had put on such a convincing face for Sara that she had ever convinced herself. Perhaps Sara was no more to Astoria that something she liked to play with when it suited her fancy, something that amused her, something Astoria enjoyed bossing around.
Perhaps Astoria really wasn't any better than what Stephan Edgecombe thought she was.
That evening Astoria sat reading in the Ravenclaw common room in front of the stove. Warm flames crackled in the hearth. The floor to ceiling windows that stretched across the walls let in peaceful, clear black light of the evening. She had managed to get hold of a good chair, considering they were usually snatched by the older students. Despite the cozy and sleepy atmosphere, Astoria felt restless and uncomfortable.
She re-read a page in her History of Magic text book for the third time, trying to absorb some of the information. Her mind refused to allow herself to concentrate. Her thoughts were constantly flitting from one subject to another.
Louder and more insistent than ever, Stephan Edgecombe's voice rose in her head: Liar, biased, two-faced, traitor!
Someone cleared their throat.
Without understanding a word she read, Astoria turned to the next page, feeling the thin paper beneath her fingers and remembering what Daphne had told her. Someday Astoria would have to choose. Someday it might matter, might matter a great deal.
"Erm – hello…Greengrass? Astoria?"
Astoria looked up sharply and was so shocked she almost dropped her book. It was Stephan, standing a few feet away from her and twisting his fingers in front of his chest.
There was no one else to be seen in the dormitory so there was no mistake that Stephan was addressing her.
"Erm…yes?" said Astoria cautiously, wondering what Stephan could possibly have to say to her, whether or not he was going to insult her again, if – perhaps – he would take advantage of their solitude to take out his wand. Astoria kept her heavy book in her hand at ready, just in case.
Stephan opened and closed his mouth several times. He looked at the fraying carpet beneath his trainers. "Erm…I…I was just wondering…."
Astoria had a strong desire to snap well then, spit it out but she held her tongue. She noticed that Stephan was holding a box and a folded board under his arm.
"If you weren't busy…" continued Stephan helplessly. He scuffed his foot against the carpet. "I brought –" he fumbled with the box under his arm. "I mean, if you play…." The board slipped from under his arm and landed at his feet, spreading to reveal familiar checkered squares in black and white.
The shock of what Stephan was suggesting hit Astoria like a Bludger to the stomach. Her mouth fell open. "Oh, I…." She hadn't a clue what to say, to think, to do.
Stephan Edgecombe was asking her to play chess.
She – Astoria Greengrass – Stephan Edgecombe was asking her to play chess.
"I – yes – of course I play," said Astoria stupidly.
Stephan looked up. His eyes brushed fleetingly over hers but then looked away again. Apparently there was something very interesting in the corner of the ceiling.
"I wasn't sure – I mean – of course, if you're busy," stammered Stephan, going red.
Astoria paused. This didn't make sense. Surely he was planning something, was somehow setting her up, trying to make her feel comfortable. "I suppose you haven't anything better to do," she said scathingly.
"No," said Stephan quickly, eyes widening so that Astoria thought he looked almost innocent. "That wasn't it at all! I mean – certainly, I'm bored. It's not nearly as much fun being here over the Holiday as I'd thought it would be, but –" he was rambling.
Astoria frowned, but couldn't help but remember the evening before, when Stephan had seemed as if he'd been trying to be friendly.
"And – only if you'd wanted to of course," Stephan continued, "but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to…to play."
Astoria hesitated. She thought of all the nasty things Stephan had ever said to her. She thought of all the things she had said to him. She thought about the evening before, when he seemed as if he'd been trying to be genuinely polite. She thought of the past week, of reading by herself, wandering the corridors by herself, and she thought of the next, toiling, lonely two weeks before Sara and Melissa would return.
She felt her lips form the words before she had rightly made up her mind. "I…I guess."
The corner of Stephan's lip cricked, as if he was fighting down a smile. His fingers stopped twisting in front of his chest and his arms dropped in relief. "Brilliant," he said, and dropped to collect the board from the floor. "Should we…there's a table right over here."
Stephan sounded nervous and awkward and almost agonizingly formal. Astoria rose to follow him to a table by the wall, not taking any pains to put him at ease. After all, she wasn't willing to put her guard down yet.
Astoria excused herself to retrieve her own chess set from her dormitory. She's received it for her ninth birthday and had by now developed into a well enough player that her pieces had ceased to shout her advice while she was trying to decide where to move.
She returned to the common room to find Stephan had set up the chess board.
"You can be white," he said quickly as she came through the door. He seemed very anxious to please her.
Astoria wordlessly dug out a black and white pawn, closing her fists around them and held them out for Stephan to choose. Even though Stephan meant to be gracious, Astoria wasn't about to take any of his favors.
Stephan pointed to her right fist. She opened it to reveal the white pawn.
"I really don't mind if…" Stephan began.
Astoria cut him off, "You chose it, fair and square."
They set up their pieces. Stephan's set of players were worn, their smooth marble coats smudged with fingerprints. Astoria's looked similar. Her mother had offered to buy her a new set but Astoria had refused. She'd established a kind of mutual trust among her players, something she doubted her mother, as a Slytherin, would understand.
Stephan still seemed unwilling to meet Astoria's eyes. He studied the chessboard instead; Astoria stared carefully at his bowed head.
"Pawn to d-four," said Stephan, piece obeying the sound of his voice and sliding across the board.
"Pawn to d-five," said Astoria, and so the game began.
Stephan seemed to be a good player. He dodged Astoria's attacks deftly but seemed to be mostly playing the defensive, almost as if he refused to add any of his own counterattacks. Astoria wondered if perhaps he was going easy on her. The thought rankled discontentedly; Astoria didn't want to be permitted to win.
She tried to goad him into an attack by threatening his queen. At one point she even left her knight wide open for the taking. It was a foolish move but Stephan didn't take it and Astoria refused to believe it was because he hadn't noticed it, as he insisted when Astoria (rather scornfully) pointed it out to him.
As the game progressed Astoria grew more and more irritated with Stephan's passive aggressiveness. When playing chess Astoria enjoyed to win straight out or to play a good game, even if that game ended in a loss. She had had a difficult time finding a partner at Hogwarts. Many of the older students didn't want to play with a second-year. Daphne didn't enjoy the game. Astoria had attempted to teach Melissa and Sara; Melissa was terrible and kept forgetting the rules; Sara was decent but grew bored while Astoria was puzzling out her next move.
What truly irked Astoria was that Stephan appeared to have the makings of a good partner, if only she might make him play her to his best ability. As it was, she managed to get up on him by a bishop and a pawn and backed him into a corner quickly after she'd managed to get around his defense.
"Check," she announced exasperatedly after Stephan completely missed a very obvious avenue of escape.
"Oh, good move," he said, decidedly too cheerily. Astoria scowled at him but he missed it because he was making a show of studying her position.
"You could have stopped me if you'd moved your bishop," Astoria snapped.
"Oh," said Stephan, face falling in a rather shoddy show of theatrics. "Oh yeah." His fingers flickered briefly over his knight, one of the pieces he could use to block Astoria's attack.
Astoria couldn't restrain herself, "If you don't block it with your rook you'll be in check mate the next move."
"Oh," said Stephan again, so unconvincingly that Astoria was certain he had known it all along. Stephan half-heartedly blocked the check with his rook, thereby threatening Astoria's queen.
She thought only briefly of moving her queen out of harm's way. She even saw a comparatively brilliant move that she could take with which to counter him. But then another thought came to her. She could, of course, give Stephan a bit of his own medicine. Although doing so would mean losing purposefully, something Astoria had never done before, something Astoria honestly could never conceive doing.
She tried to console herself with the thought that this really hadn't been a real game to begin with. After all, it shouldn't hurt her pride very much to concede a loss in a situation like this, when she was trying to prove a point….
But it did hurt. It hurt a lot. Astoria realized, with a clarity she never had before, just how much she truly disliked losing.
Before she could think about it any further she gritted her teeth and yanked her hand away from her queen and over to her knight, allowing Stephan a clear avenue for victory. She moved her knight and stared at Stephan, daring him to do as she'd commanded.
Stephan's hand flew immediately to a pawn.
"Don't!" Astoria snapped.
Stephan looked up. For the first time their eyes met over the board. Astoria could feel herself frowning. Heat rushed to her cheeks.
"Take my queen," Astoria growled, finding Stephan's look of feigned confusion to be decidedly too much.
Stephan's eyes widened. He looked at the board and then back at Astoria. "I didn't notice," he said.
"Don't treat me like an idiot," Astoria snapped. "Of course you did."
Stephan's cheeks darkened. "But, you'll…."
"Lose, I know!" Astoria said poisonously. "It isn't possible that I could win without my queen, even with the way you've been playing."
"Did you want to redo…" said Stephan.
"How old do you think I am? Five?" Astoria demanded. "Of course I don't want to take it back!"
"We could start a new game –"
"Stop treating me like an idiot!" Astoria leap to her feet. Her chess pieces craned their necks to stare at her. Astoria felt anger pulse through her veins. She remembered every cruel thing Stephan had ever said to her, remembering pointedly the dislike she had felt for him all along. She was stupid for ever agreeing to this game.
"I haven't been –" said Stephan, anger of his own simmering in his eyes.
"You've been letting me win for the whole game!" Astoria shouted. "You've been playing with me like I'm an ignorant little girl!"
"I – I didn't want to –" stammered Stephan.
"Didn't want to, what? Didn't want to beat me? Well, I'll have you know that I'm perfectly capable of beating you without your help!"
"I was just trying to be nice!" Stephan shouted, standing from his chair, hitting the table so that the chess pieces tottered. His queen steadied herself with her sword.
"Nice!" Astoria shrieked, "When have you ever been nice to me, Edgecombe? When have you ever cared about being nice?"
"I – I just," Stephan's face was turning red, as if he was about to spontaneously implode. "I wanted to – I mean, what happened a few days ago – I guess I…."
Astoria glared at him, hardly understanding the garble of words spilling from his mouth. She realized she had never been more disinterested in what someone had to say to her in her entire life.
"What are you playing at, Edgecombe?" she hissed. "What makes you think I might possibly believe you –"
"I was trying to apologize, alright!" Stephan bellowed, voice rebounding off the domed ceiling, hitting the glass of the arched windows, slapping Astoria in the face and rendering her mute. Stephan's face was screwed up and red. His chest heaved.
Astoria opened her mouth and shouted, "You're doing a bloody awful of job of it then!"
She was appalled to feel her eyes sting with tears. She turned on her heel so that Stephan wouldn't see. Taking a few, jerking steps away from him. Her throat was throbbing, stopping her voice was coming out her lips.
She tried to catch her breath, ease the pounding tension in her head, try to get a hold on herself. She was suddenly acutely glad that they were the only two in the Ravenclaw common room. She wondered if anyone else had heard them shouting.
"Astoria –" said Stephan haltingly from behind her. Astoria realized it was one of the few times he had called her by her first name. She remembered he had called her it already, earlier when he'd been trying to attract her attention from her book. "Listen –"
Astoria didn't turn around. She pressed her teeth together hard.
"I'm – I'm sorry about…I didn't realize…."
Stephan paused, evidently expecting Astoria to say something. When she didn't he continued awkwardly, "I shouldn't have – I guess I've treated you pretty rotten and I – I'm sorry, alright? I realize now…after you stopped Mentang from –" Astoria realized he was referencing the incident with the Slytherin girls and Sara from a few weeks ago.
Almost unconsciously she turned back around. Stephan's face was still red. His eyes searched for hers and she allowed her own to meet his. He looked partly relieved to find himself once again speaking to her face.
"I –" he continued. "Sara was right. You – you're…I mean, I shouldn't have said a lot of what I said to you. It wasn't true."
Astoria waited for Stephan to go on, but it appeared as though he had reached the end of his apology. Astoria felt something in her chest loosen.
"Oh," she said, aware that she had to say something. "Oh – I'm glad you… I mean, I guess I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have – I – erm – thank you."
Stephan's face had turned a flaming red. Astoria felt heat rush to her own cheeks. The stove in the center of the room flickered comfortingly. The remaining pieces on the chess board shifted restlessly, evidently eager to get on with the game. Stephan's rook was running her hand over the edge of her sword.
"So – erm – alright?" said Stephan at last, jutting his hand out for Astoria to take in a horridly forced show of formalities.
Astoria stared at his palm, extended toward her chest. She heard Stephan's voice echoing in her head, by now so familiar she could trace the exact progression of every syllable as they drifted through her mind: liar, two-faced –
She gulped and stuck out her arm, meeting Stephan's hand in the middle. "Alright," she said.
Their fingers closed around each other's fists briefly.
"So," said Stephan hesitantly, arm swinging back to his side. "Would you…care to start a new game?"
"Only if you promise not to let me win," said Astoria carefully.
"Only if you promise the same thing," said Stephan, with a crook of his upper lip which was most definitely the beginning of a smile.
Astoria scuffed her toe against the carpet and tried to force her lips into a smile to match Stephan's. "Fair enough."