Whispers in the Night
The countryside blurred together as the Hogwarts Express sped towards the school. The rest of her holidays had been underwhelming, enjoying good food and spending time with classmates, Daphne especially. After the Gala, Lord Greengrass had informed her that she could come visit whenever she liked, just please ask Daphne for when they would be out of town. She had loved spending time at Greenstone Castle, they had gardens that bloomed year round and Lady Greengrass was much less investigative than Lady Malfoy.
For the first time Aster had experienced what a holiday was meant to be, and she found herself wistful of the years she had missed out on such a relaxing experience. Had Harry had such a relaxing and joyous holiday? She rather hoped he had. Even with him severing their twin bond, she couldn't help feeling like he would take it back if he could. Aster knew Harry, and he wouldn't intentionally hurt someone. Not even Dudley and his goons. Resolving to ask him how he enjoyed his break when she arrived back at Hogwarts, Aster listened in to the conversation.
"Lady Malfoy had this gorgeous drapes, they were dark blue and were enchanted to show snowflakes drifting down. Surely thats better than Lady Fawcett's Christmas tree?"
"You should have seen it Daphne, it was the center of the ballroom and decorated with fairy lights and bright red ribbons." Verity seemed awed by the memory of the tree. "They also did a 'white elephant' gift exchange? I don't know how elephants factor in, but there were a lot of really nice gifts. Each family got one, Grandmum and I got handheld pensieve."
"How did the Fawcett's incorporate Christmas?" Both girls turned to Aster in surprise.
"I hadn't realized you were listening, Aster. Lady Fawcett decorated with Holly and wreaths and bright red ribbons. She also had lots of bells in gold and silver, the tree in the center, and a sleigh to hold the gift exchange presents. How did you like the Winter Gala?"
"It was interesting. I hadn't realized how over the top the hats are in the wizarding world." Daphne stifled a laugh.
"That's one way to put it. Verity, you should have seen her, gaping like a fish at Madame Umbridge! She had a wool cat on her hat, and Aster here thought it was the most ridiculous thing." Aster blushed, she hadn't been that bad! Well…maybe a little taken aback, but certainly not mimicking a fish.
"It was the size of her head, and bright pink. And Madame Umbridge looked like a toad." Verity cackled in delight at Aster's stiff reply.
"I wish you had seen the Diggory's. Mister Diggory was wearing a flaming, dragon skin hat, and Madame Diggory was wearing a wreath as a hat." Aster closed her eyes and covered her face.
"I cannot believe what wizarding fashion is." Her friends cracked up and Aster couldn't help smiling. At least they weren't telling her it was normal.
By the time they got to Hogwarts it was nearly dinnertime. Aster decided to go ahead and see if Harry was in the great hall, and before she could even open the doors, Harry was there.
"Thank you for the boots. I'm sorry, I didn't realize we could afford gifts this year, and I didn't know how to get one for you while I was here." He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I should have treated you better last year. I just was so caught up in magic being real and Slytherins being evil, I guess I forgot that I've always known you're evil. That much didn't change." His tone was gentle, teasing and Aster responded the way she always had. Joyous to have Harry back.
"Oh evil am I? I would like to remind you, you're the one who turned Mrs. Werple's hair blue." Harry hugged her.
"I know. I missed you. Can we eat dinner together, compare breaks?"
"You want to sit with the Slytherins?" Aster couldn't keep from laughing at the disgust on Harry's face.
"And sit that close to Malfoy? No thanks. Would you mind sitting with the Gryffindors?"
"That depends. Are Weasley and Granger going to glare at me and call me evil?"
"If they do, I'll ignore them for a week. Please?"
"Alright. So what happened that you're so eager to talk to me about?" Harry smirked.
"I'll tell you at dinner."
"You do realize dinner starts in ten minutes?"
"Oh. Well, let's go have a seat."
Much to Aster's surprise, aside from a surprised look from the upper years, nobody said anything about her eating with Harry. At least until Granger showed up.
"You aren't supposed to sit here. You're supposed to eat with your house."
"Actually Hermione, siblings are permitted to eat meals together if they are separated by house. They don't want to cut off family bonds." The oldest Weasley countered Granger with just as much pomp in his voice as she had. Aster had to resist the urge to smirk as the know it all turned bright red.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Granger glared at Harry.
"Harry, you better not tell her what I think you're going to tell her. You haven't spoken more than three words to her since the hospital wing back in November. You couldn't trust her then, why can you trust her now?" Harry flushes pink, and to Aster's surprise Weasley responds.
"That's low Mione. You know Harry's been regretting not trusting her then, and you were the one encouraging him to doubt her. Telling him all about how her and her friends looked down on you for blood when they didn't want to deal with you taking over their study group. For that matter, I don't appreciate you pestering me to study and do my homework all the time, and expecting me to be like you. I'm not you Hermione, I'm Ron. And I would rather play chess or quidditch than read books." The bushy haired girl was on the verge of tears now.
"She's in Slytherin! All her friends are purebloods! She and her friends are bigots! And she hasn't said a word to Harry in months-"
"Because I tore the twin bond. Hermione, you woulnd't understand. It was painful for me, and Madame Pomfrey assured me that my pain was barely a tenth of hers. I've regretted listening to you about Aster since then. I'm sorry Aster, I should have listened." Granger storms off in tears, and nobody at Gryffindor table looks as she leaves.
"You should have. It was always just us Harry."
"Right. So what I wanted to tell you about was that I got an invisibility cloak for christmas, the note said it was Dad's. I used it to go exploring and found a mirror that showed me our family, Mum, Dad, you, me and all our relatives but the Dursley's. Dumbledore moved it, so I don't know where it went, but I thought you would want to hear about it."
"I'm glad you have something that was Dad's. One of my friends mum's sent me pictures of Mum and Dad from school." Harry's eyes gleamed.
"Could I see? Later I mean."
"Of course. You really do look like dad. Just the eye color is different." Harry grins, and Aster smiles. The food at Gryffindor is the same, but eating with Harry makes it all taste better.
Later that night as she's trying to sleep Aster wonders to herself why Granger didn't want her to know about the cloak and mirror.
