Finding a Place to Call Home
Moon: Welcome back faithful readers, and thanks to the reviewers! You guys are wonderful. In this chapter, mostly Harry and Astoria with a little bit of Britain at the end. There will be a little more Britain next chapter, but I'm bone tired and couldn't quite fit it into this one. So, here you go...enjoy and tell me what you think! I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3: City of Lights and Magic
"This way, everyone!" A young man with a heavy French Accent called out to the crowd. There was a light chatter as the group of wizards that had taken the International Confederation line to Paris headed in the direction of the exit. Astoria and Harry stood near a family of seven headed to a birthday party, making themselves look innocuous. Harry looked around the train station. Here, the flag he had seen with the Beaubaxon students was hanging from the rafters, and there was a noticeable change in color to the walls and ceiling. It looked decidedly more festive then the practical, silver British station.
"Look Harry," Astoria whispered. "Fairies!"
Harry followed Astoria's gaze and marveled. Sure enough, there were sharp bursts of multicolored light as fairies seemed to pop into existence among the roof, and flew down among the travelers to many cries of delight. Soon, the station was filled with fairy dust and laughing wizards. The fairies giggled mischievously as they darted through the crowds, playing lighthearted pranks on wizards who looked overly stuffy. Parents gently told their children to refrain from grabbing at the fragile creatures while a few businessmen protested vainly as their briefcases were covered in fairy dust and began to rise towards the ceiling, quite without their permission.
Astoria laughed as a small, ruby-red fairy appeared in front of her and Harry. It giggled and flitted in front of them. Astoria held out her finger. The fairy grabbed it, put some dust on it and then flew up, around Harry's head and then up to where the other fairies were gathering at the ceiling.
Turning to Harry, Astoria giggled and said, "They're beautiful..."
"Yeah..." Harry agreed, looking up to the ceiling. A window magically opened, and the fairings zipped off, to the disappointment of many young children.
"I see the fairies have welcomed the new arrivals!" The young man from before said cheerfully. He was met with laughter and some applause. "You'll see some more of those little ones around the gardens in Paris, if you know where to look."
In high spirits, the incoming wizards walked up a long staircase that ended in two doorways.
The young man said, "Now, this is the important part. Those of you who are headed into muggle Paris should use the door on the right. Magical Paris is the door on the left. The Shifting Plates will feel a bit uncomfortable as you pass through them, but don't panic if you feel a bit of a squeeze! That's perfectly natural, and I assure you its safe. The Plates are what separates our France from the muggle France, and there are scant few entrances! If you have business in the muggle world first, you'd best take the right door."
The guy took out his wand and waved it twice. The two huge doors swung open. There was a glowing blue veil in between the stairs and the streets. On one side, Harry could see muggle cars and streets. And on the other...it looked like Diagon Alley. Actually, no. Diagon Alley paled in comparison to what he could see from here."
Hedwig made a noise, and Astoria squeezed his hand. "Well?" She murmured, bringing Harry back to the present. "Let's go!"
Harry nodded, and steeling himself for the mentioned pressure and followed the crowd through the blue veil.
There was a feeling of pressure that made Harry's stomach feel greatly unsettled, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut as he stumbled forward on to the pavement. The ground under his feet felt like it was about to be pulled apart, with one of his legs on either side.
As quickly as the feeling came it was gone, and Harry was left blinking in the city of lights. Astoria was standing and looking on in amazement.
Magical Paris seemed to...glow, for lack of a better word. Both torches and streetlamps lined the streets – streets where huge wolf-like creatures bounded along, carrying their masters and their children along with them, the kids often screaming with excitement.
"What are those?" Harry asked in amazement. A nearby woman chuckled.
"Never seen a warg before, darling? They look fearsome, but if you raised them domestic they're wonderful to have around." She said. "They've become the primary mode of transportation when their population exploded."
"Wow," Astoria whispered, watching as one of the Wargs. "I heard that someone had bred a new species from werewolves and normal wolves, but I hadn't thought there were so many in one place!" She clutched the handle of her suitcase. "Let's find our hotel Harry, there's so much to see!"
They started walking down the streets. Harry couldn't help but stare at almost everything he came across. There were huge shops containing magically altered muggle equipment, the most amazing of all being the sheer number of muggle electronics that were functioning perfectly well despite being surrounded by wizards! There were Television sets in windows playing parts of the new Transformers show and Star Wars: A New Hope. Harry could see Sony's new game system also for sale in another.
Astoria was thrilled. "What's that?"
"It's a television. How to explain...well, they show you a series of imagines, like a Pensieve."
"What's that?"
"That's a computer. It's kind of like a TV combined with a writing quill of sorts. You can store writing and information on it."
"What's that?"
"That...is an NES system. Uh, I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. It's something that allows you to play games on a TV."
The winding streets were extremely friendly, though a lot of the wizards going around only spoke French, often leaving the two children confused. Lights glowed and danced overhead. Trains rushed past on elevated platforms. It was as if the city itself was constantly in motion.
"If this is the City of Lights, I can't help but wonder what the magical version of the City that Never Sleeps looks like." Harry mused, mentally adding New York to their potential travel list.
"The what?" Astoria asked, biting into her bottom lip. She was realizing very quickly just how very little she knew about the world outside of Britain, and now she was starting to feel rather foolish when she had to ask Harry what something was.
Harry caught her expression and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll tell you more when we reach our hotel. Then we can work out our travel plans into something a little more streamlined."
Astoria smiled again at this. "I like that. Do you suppose we can find a map written in English?"
As it turned out, looking for a map that was just English was unnecessary. A friendly clerk pointed them to a magical map that changed it's language to whatever the reader needed it to be. Harry located their prepaid hotel and the two of them set off down the street again.
It was an elegant place, with floating lightbulbs to guide the way. Harry felt extremely self conscious walking in and once again worried that someone would question two clearly unrelated children travelling together, but they got to their hotel room without much fuss. This one, thankfully, had two beds. It had a carpet and a large desk.
Harry immediately sat down with Astoria next to him and opened Hedwig's cage. The bird chirped happily, finally allowed to fly around freely, and left to hunt. After that, Harry quickly emptied the contents of his smaller backpack onto the desk and grabbed himself a pen.
"So, shall we create a trail to follow?" He suggested.
Astoria nodded eagerly. "Oh yes! I can't wait to see where else there is to go."
With that, they opened a good number of maps and reference books. Hours ticked by as they read, occasionally speaking up when they spotted something that interested them. Harry wrote down short notes whenever he saw something that he should keep in mind. Eventually, he turned to his travel journal and nodded, having come to a potential decision.
He pointed to several travel guides on the desk and turned to Astoria. He smiled. "So, aside from Australia-" He pointed to the island on the far right of the world map he had opened. "-I was thinking we should also go to Italy. Did you know that the person who discovered the cure to Dragon Pox was born Italian?"
"No," Astoria said, eyes lighting up. "Oh, how about after that, we go to Germany?" She pointed to the country. "I'd like to see the parts of Grindelwald's prison that we're allowed to visit. Oh, and we can also see the Duelling arenas! Duelling is an official sport there," She explained for Harry's benefit, "out there it's almost as popular as Quidditch. I think most German schools have it as a compulsory course from the beginning."
"That would have been nice," Harry said to himself. He studied the map. "How about Norway? It says here that it's supposedly Rowena Ravenclaw's birthplace." He put his fingers on one of the guides. "Also, it says that there are ancient Healing Springs in that area too."
"I heard about that!" Astoria said eagerly. "It's said that the pilgrimage there is treacherous, but if you were an innocent that no matter how severe your wounds or your sickness you could walk out healed!"
"It also has a Hippogriff national park," Harry said in interest, looking at the guide. "I didn't realize they were endangered."
"They were considered a status symbol back in the seventeenth century," Astoria said. "People tried to capture them, and they were hunted until only a few of them survived in the wild."
Harry sighed. "Well, there's one thing that muggles and wizards have in common."
Astoria drew lines on the map, connecting a flight path to Italy, Norway and Germany. She looked back at the world map. "You said New York?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Wow, look at this. The City that Never Sleeps, central magical trade and triumph of the world. Merlin, that is such an American statement to make. What's their other slogan? One nation under Merlin? Well, it couldn't hurt to see if it lives up to its high opinion of itself huh?"
"Harry, what are the Smithsonian Museums?" Astoria asked, squinting down at the muggle guide.
Harry thought about that for a second before remembering that the wizards thought going to space was a mere fairy tale. He smiled. "Oh, I think you'd like to see those. In fact, I think while we're there I'll take you to Los Angelos and to Hollywood. There are two amazing muggle places."
"How about we go to Brazil after that?" Astoria suggested, following a trail on the map with her finger down to South America. "I heard its a really exotic location."
"Sure," Harry said, spinning through one of his reference guides. Astoria made a noise and pointed to one of the pictures. "Look at that! Someone actually has a few live Manticore there. I thought they had gone extinct!"
"There's also the Memorial of Emma Zhang up in Northern Canada. She exterminated the Windigos that were slaughtering everyone magical and muggle. We can stop by Alaska and see the island of the Minator. We can catch that before going to Tokyo." Harry suggested, gesturing to another guide. "Some of the greatest Transfiguration artists alive live there." He read this aloud from the page.
"And some of the oldest dragon breeds." Astoria added solemnly. "I heard that some of them are old enough that they can speak the human language."
"You're kidding." Harry said, looking up at her. In the candlelight, Astoria's eager green eye seemed to sparkle.
Astoria shook her head. "No jokes. I wonder what they would have to say if we're allowed to talk to them."
Harry drew the line along until it reached Tokyo. "Africa? For sightseeing?" He suggested.
Astoria looked at some of the pictures and said, "Sure." She took the pen from Harry and connected the travel path. "And then to Australia."
The two sat there in silence for a second, contemplating their travel plans. Astoria glanced at Harry and said, "I think that covers it for now." She said. "I can't wait to start."
Harry nodded, standing up and walking over to the window. He stared down at the gleaming streets, watching as young children ran past, tugging their parents along with them. People just stopping at the corners to chat. He felt a tug at his heart and smiled softly.
Why hadn't he done this before? He was away, away from his troubles and the things that had been stalking him. Perhaps it had been fear of his aunt and uncle that had kept him in that house, but if he'd known then what he had known now would he have ever stayed in that place? Harry wondered if the Dursleys, his only living family, were the least bit bothered by his disappearance from Hogwarts – if they had been informed at all. Somehow he didn't imagine Vernon or Petunia were crying very much over that. And even after how they'd treated him for thirteen years that thought stung him.
What was going back at Hogwarts, Harry wondered idly. Was anyone really worried that he was gone? Or were they just happy that they had him out of their hair?
"Harry? Is something wrong?" Astoria's voice was warm with concern. Harry gave a start when she put her hands on his shoulders. Her touch was gentle, and it felt different from what he'd experienced with Hermione or Mrs. Weasley.
"Just thinking," He said.
"Want to talk about it?" Astoria suggested. "It always made me feel better to talk about the things bothering me instead of keeping them in."
Harry thought about that, and to his surprise the lump that should have come up in his throat was completely absent. "You know what? That would be nice. To have someone who's willing to listen."
He turned from the window and walked over to his bed, running his fingers through his messy black hair. He sat down, feeling the mattress groan slightly under his weight. A deep sigh escaped his lips, causing his entire body to shake slightly before relaxing. He kicked his shoes off as Astoria sat on her bed, right across from him.
Her green eyes were so open. Harry thought in wonder, that a girl he had met two days ago was giving him the patience and understanding he'd only really gotten from Sirius, over a few letters. "Let me tell you a story, Astoria. It's not a very happy one. At one point, there was a child with two loving parents. One of them was a muggleborn who was famously talented in magic. The other was the son of an old family, or so I've been told. They loved each other, and they loved their child. But then a dark wizard decided to go after them. The parents didn't survive the battle. But their son did, for no particular merit of his own – he was saved by the love of his mother. You probably know this part already."
He smiled coldly. "Want to hear the part that you probably don't know? The parents were betrayed by one of their close friends. Someone who Dumbledore had expressed confidence in. This person framed the other friend for betraying the parents and faked his death, scurrying to safety in the oblivious safety of another wizarding family. He was a coward, but he was also an opportunist. He hadn't fled out of any regret for what he had done, but because the things he had done were so he could have the protection of the biggest bully on the playground, and he wasn't about to waste his time on a wreck of a wizard that had no power. Oh, he knew that the dark wizard had not, in fact, been vanquished that fateful night when the boy lost his parents. There are a few people who knew, although how he did it is beyond me. And the great caring Dumbledore did not step in on the betrayed one's side, to give him the decency of a trial. He was simply thrown into Azkaban because everyone assumed he was guilty with no further investigation. There was a fourth friend, but he was not allowed anywhere near the boy either. Not because he was a bad person, but because he had a condition that made people irrationally fear him. A condition that didn't affect his ability to care for anyone."
"Now, the boy was an enigma. The boy who lived, everyone calls him. They think he must have it all. The papers blather on about his wealth and his alleged power. Everyone whispers when he walks past, people stare at in him envy or in lust or in other ways that I probably don't want to imagine. They all have an image about him that they think is the truth. And there's the important word there. An image. A falsehood, and the utter opposite of the reality that existed for that boy."
Harry took a deep breath. "The boy was dropped on the doorstep of his mother's sister, who hated magic and above all hated her sister. She was married to a walrus of a man who was even less tolerant of things that didn't fit into his worldview then he was. They had a fat bully of a son that is quickly shaping up to have all of their worst qualities in one big package."
"I wonder if people would still accuse that boy of being attention seeking and big-headed if they knew he spent the first ten years of his life sleeping in a cupboard under the stairwell that most people reserve for keeping old books and antiques." He said savagely. Astoria gasped and stared at him in shock. "The boy had never had friends because his cousin would beat up anyone who went near him. The boy was rarely fed anything decent; he was always told that he was a freak, a burden, a monster, unlovable, unwanted, and worthless besides. He spent his formative years with people who despised him, who cared nothing for him and used him for slave labor, for lack of a better word. No one ever stepped forward to help this boy. No one offered comfort or respite from the loneliness. He didn't even know how his parents really died – his aunt told him that they were drunkards who had died in a car crash."
Astoria made a noise of anger and distress. "They didn't," She said in disbelief. "No one treats their family that way."
Harry gave her a brittle look. "With all due respect, that's your family. You don't know what the Dursleys were like." His jaw locked. "You don't know what they can do."
"But..." Astoria looked like someone who was just coming to realize something. "That's why you were always dressed shabbily when you weren't in your uniform?" She said in distress. "That wasn't a ploy to mislead people on how you operated?"
Harry blinked. "That's what people thought? Huh. I thought they just didn't factor that in when they constructed their version of reality."
"That's what a good number of the Slytherins thought." Astoria said. "After all, you're actually really smart in class, and on a broomstick you've never lost a match. I mean, there were the Dementors, but that really wasn't fair." Her voice grew timid, "It hadn't even occurred to me..."
Harry just gave a weary sigh. "It's fine, Astoria. You didn't really know me before this, and even the people who I thought were closest to me didn't seem to realize it either."
"But why?" Astoria asked softly. "Why would your aunt and uncle treat their own flesh and blood that way?"
"Oh, I don't know. Why do pure bloods treat muggleborns like dirt?" Harry asked dryly. "Why are house elves nearly routinely tortured by their masters? They think magic is unnatural and twisted. They're biased and acting on it. There's really not that much of a difference between them and Draco Malfoy."
He gave a short chuckle. "It's funny that Malfoy keeps telling everyone that muggles are stupid and barbaric and yet he acts just like two of them."
"I hadn't thought about it that way," Astoria said thoughtfully. "Father doesn't engage in pure blood philosophy, but he doesn't seem to think that muggles are very important in the grand scale of our world."
"A thought process that seems to be common back there," Harry said. "I bet if you took away Draco's wand, have him gain a few pounds and made his hair a lighter blonde he could be adopted as Dudley's twin.
"Well, at least you have Hogwarts to go to, to get away from those muggles," Astoria said hopefully. Harry smiled sadly.
"That was what I had thought, for a while anyway."
Astoria looked questioningly at him, and Harry said, "Shall I continue my story?" He smiled when she nodded, looking very serious now.
Harry kicked his legs out a bit, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the edge of his bed. "The boy had bouts of accidental magic whenever he was stressed enough, and his aunt and uncle would always punish him severely for it. He didn't understand any of it, and after a while he started to think that he must really be a freak. Why else would these things happen? Why else would his aunt and uncle hate him so much?"
Astoria made another angry noise in her throat, though this time it was mingled with distress instead of disbelief.
"Then a miracle happened. The boy got a letter from a school that told him that he was a wizard. The aunt and uncle did their very best to keep the knowledge from the boy, but it would not be deterred. Eventually the boy found out, and he was told the truth about his parents. He was introduced to a new world, one that seemed so beautiful and perfect in comparison to the one he had been trapped in for so long. He ran into it with vigor." He smiled sadly. "The joy of being accepted made him gullible."
"He made friends with people who would turn on him so easily. He even risked his life for one, when a troll entered the school. Their dysfunctional arguing all the time also made him uncomfortable. He often felt like they included him in these fights to make him choose between them, and this put unwelcome pressure on his emotions. And even without that to think about, the boy's life was in danger. The supposed greatest wizard since Merlin allowed a man into the school who was supporting the wizard who had killed the boy's parents, and he tried to finish the job multiple times. The boy went to teachers with his suspicions and was dismissed. The supporter nearly succeeded in his task at the end of the first year, but through luck and his mother's protection the boy survived – only to be shuttled back to the same cruel environment that he had been living in for so long."
"The Dursleys, if possible, were colder then they had been before the boy knew the truth about his magic. I bet those Daily Prophet articles that have been talking about me didn't mention that I spent my summer before my second year locked in my room like a prisoner of Azkaban. Or that I was fed even less then before. Or that I was blamed for magic that a house elf had caused in a bid to keep me from going back to Hogwarts."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "In retrospect, the boy would likely have been better off if he had heeded the elf's warnings. Once again, he was in life threatening danger. He was blamed for being the Heir of Slytherin. The whole school watched him with suspicion and anger. It bothered him more then anything to be treated like an outcast, because it brought back one too many painful memories. It was as if he had never left the Dursleys at all."
"Then he had to save a young girl who had been ensnared by a dark artifact because apparently an entire school full of wizards of many years of talent can't tell that the attacks that were turning students to stone were caused by a basilisk. Something that a second year could figure out by just spending an hour in the library. Against all odds, he managed to kill the monster and save the girl."
Astoria squeaked in horror. "You had to fight a basilisk?" She whispered.
"Yeah," Harry said evenly. He rolled up his sleeve and ran his finger down his forearm. "I almost died too. One of its fangs got buried in my arm. The Headmaster's familiar came down and saved me in time."
"The Headmaster's phoenix?" Astoria echoed in confusion. "But if he knew where the chamber was and the phoenix could get down there, why didn't he come down and help you himself?"
Harry shrugged with a certain amount of anger. "I don't know. Dumbledore actually hasn't helped me a whole much. Two times I've been hated and feared and he hasn't said a single word, though whenever someone gives Malfoy exactly what he deserves there's always a teacher right around the corner who will deduct points from the people he'd been bullying and mistreating."
"The other students didn't understand why you're getting all these points at the ends of the years," Astoria admitted. "A lot of them seem to think that you were Dumbledore's pet or something, and that made them resentful. At least, the Slytherins I knew were resentful of it."
"Really?" Harry exhaled, gritting his teeth. "I would have liked no better to have made friends with some Slytherins. But it's like Dumbledore and the Gryffindors set me up to be a loner with no one else to turn to whenever they decided to leave me hanging. Because everyone has these warped images of me that have come about through things that have happened that I have no control over, or when I try to do the right thing and they don't seem to like that."
"I think you're amazing, Harry." Astoria said. "I heard rumors about what happened with Quirrel, and I heard a few things about the basilisk and the spell you cast that could deflect hundreds of dementors."
Harry, despite himself, felt a smile coming to his face. "Thanks Astoria, that's nice to know." He said. "I wish a few other people had that kind of confidence in me."
"Third year. He's being dogged by the betrayed fried of his parents, who finally managed to escape the hell he'd been trapped in years before. Everyone thought he was the betrayer and that there was a mass murderer after the young boy. Was this boy given any extra protection? No. He was surrounded by monsters that he had no way of defending himself against, and the friend was seen walking in and out of the school as though he earned it. Did they move the boy somewhere safer? Did they look the betrayed friend up to see if there was anything that might be helping him? No, they just left him hanging. Through sheer luck and chance, the boy discovered that the betrayed friend was innocent – and his godfather – and the true murderer was uncovered. Unfortunately, because of some really horrible timing the other friend, who had helped, was overcome by his condition and in the following chaos the rat managed to get away."
Astoria listened to this and asked, "The other friend was a werewolf, wasn't he?"
"Remarkable intuition." Harry remarked. "What gave it away?"
"Well, you said 'horrible timing', and that there was chaos afterwards, so that was the first thing that came to mind," Astoria responded. "Also, Professor Lupin resigned citing 'health reasons', and the night that Sirius escaped was the night of the full moon."
"Smart," Harry said. "Pity that Snape had to be so biased, or he might not have let it slip at the table during breakfast, and Lupin would still be teaching us."
Astoria frowned at this, "I wonder why Professor Snape would do that." She seemed to realize something else. "Sirius Black is your godfather?"
"Yes."
"And he's innocent of the mass murder thirteen years ago?"
"Yes, he is." Harry said. "That's what happens when you don't give people a trial. Little things like him not actually being guilty might pop up."
"Oh Merlin!" Astoria exclaimed. "This kind of misdemeanor is just incredible! And for it to have happened to the last living member of the House of Black...locked up for thirteen years with the dementors...dear Merlin! This is a disaster! The poor man!" She looked anxiously at Harry. "But he escaped alright?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Harry said. "He was in the Bahamas the last time I heard from him. Safe and sound, though no closer to having his name cleared."
Astoria bit her lip. "I can't imagine why Professor Snape..."
"Oh, who knows." Harry said. "I don't understand Snape and I don't have a whole lot of incentive to start trying. And of course, all this brings me to this year. I'm dropped illegally into a tournament I don't want to compete in, and suddenly everyone's acting like I'm worse then Draco Malfoy. I'm tormented even worse then Dudley's gang ever did, and to cap it all off it was coming to a head because of my two best friends. I had to isolate myself. I couldn't bear the way I was being treated. It hurt so much. It hurt like the aura of a Dementor."
He looked up at Astoria. "And then another miracle happened. He met a girl who didn't treat him like everyone else was. Who didn't believe in the fallacies that everyone else were taking as gospel truth. Someone who offered to make an incredibly insane, risky and wonderful decision that he decided to go along with. And they escaped the building together."
"That boy has only been away from the source of his pain for nearly two days, and he's already happier then he has been in months. And it was all thanks to her."
Astoria blushed bright red. She got up off her bed, walked over to his, sat down and clasped his hands in hers. For a second, they just sat there in silence.
"It's not fair," Astoria said after a minute.
Harry just sighed. "It's not fair. If I had a nickle for every time I said that, or every time I thought that..."
"A nickle?"
"Sorry. Muggle currency. American, as it is. It's just a phrase." Harry said.
"You deserve better then this," Astoria murmured.
"Thanks, Astoria." Harry said. A thought struck him. "Do you mind if I call you Ash? Or Tori? Your name's a bit of a mouthful."
Astoria smiled softly at him. "I like Tori. My sister calls me that sometimes, when she remembers what its like to feel emotions." Her grasp on his hands tightened just a bit. "I guess my sob story isn't quite as dramatic as yours. You probably know a little bit about pure bloods. How wealthy they are. How spectacular their lives are. How much power they wield. Well, let me ease your mind about one thing. It's all a lie." She said this quietly, almost coldly, which was such a strange thing from her that Harry looked down at her in concern.
Astoria just met his eyes with her deep green ones. "You told me your story. It's only fair," She said softly. She reached up and undid one of her ruby earrings. Carefully she took it down and cradled it in her hands. "See this?" She whispered. "There's a story about a little girl. She was born into an old family, one with a father, mother and a sister. Now, they were a respectable family, and they didn't get involved in some of the uglier aspects that pure bloods these days engage in. The mother of the house was kind and compassionate and a firebrand in the sky. She ran with the wind and took her daughters with her. She told them funny stories and wasn't afraid to let her emotions lead her down different paths them what might have been dictated for other girls of her stature."
Astoria closed her eyes. "But one day, the mother fell very sick. Even her bonded house elf wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She cried foul play, but no one believed that the elf was telling the truth. The two sisters and the father could only watch helplessly as she deteriorated out of unknown causes. One day, the mother called them to her bedside and told them that the pure bloods had to change. That if we didn't accept life in all its aspects, shapes and forms, we would destroy ourselves and condemn our children and their children to lingering deaths."
The blonde swallowed and said, "She died a few hours later. But the young girl was allowed to hold onto her earrings, and with them she could pretend that she still heard her mother's voice in her ears and her touch as she brushed her hair or her cheek. She was determined that she wouldn't let her mother's spirit be lost. In...in many ways, she was the most like her mother."
"The father was crushed by the mother's death. Something inside him changed. He never smiled again. He seemed lost, detached, like he was floating through the motions. Like he had lost a part of himself, and had never really recovered. He became more like the other pure bloods that we met with for dances and other things. The older sister sought for solace. She could not bear for things to be uncertain anymore, so slowly the younger sister watched as she fell in step with the other heirs. She became colder and quieter, and disappointed that the younger sister wasn't following with tradition. She went to school keeping potential future husbands in mind, as though she was already eighteen. The younger sister tried to bring back the sister that she loved, but it was as though she had turned to glass."
Astoria gently rubbed the earring with her thumb. "The younger sister watched helplessly as her sister was assimilated. And as her father changed, and began to put pressure on her. Find a husband. Befriend the Malfoy scion. Become more demure. But the younger sister hadn't forgotten her mother's last words. She watched as violence brewed on the horizon, listened to rumors that echoed the dying words. She didn't want to be a baby maker who never left her house. She didn't want to become ... some glorified doll to be put on display by some rich man!"
She paused and gulped, as though trying to steady herself. "Over the years, she couldn't help but watch a boy. A Gryffindor boy, so there was an unspoken rule that she was not allowed to attempt to befriend him. But she couldn't help it. He seemed so kind, and so strange. She saw the people of Hogwarts drive him away the way her sister had begun to drive her away. So she reached out to him one day. And he made her think, truly think, about how trapped she was. And in an instant, she decided to run away, to escape the beautiful home that had become her prison."
Astoria smiled. "And he's been so kind. He was willing to come with her. It...it was like she's free now. Free as a bird. Like mother would have wanted."
Harry was speechless. After a second he impulsively wrapped his arms around Astoria. For a second he thought it might have been a bad idea, but Astoria leaned into the embrace. "God, I'm so sorry Astoria. I...it didn't even occur to me. I've been a real brat, if I think that bad things only happen to me. I hadn't thought that there might be other things going on with a pureblood scion then what I know from Malfoy. That there might be emotional reasons compelling you to run away."
Astoria sniffled slightly and said, "It's okay Harry. It...it feels good to talk about it. I miss my mother, but as long as I have these she'll never really leave me." She reattached her earring to her ear. "I'm just glad I'm out here..."
"So am I..."
For a moment, they sat in silence, just leaning into the long needed comfort of the embrace. Harry wasn't sure how long it was until he released his grip on Astoria.
The blonde looked curiously at Harry and said, "Maybe I should have thought of this earlier, but should you contact Sirius? I mean, if we've disappeared, he must be worried."
Harry thought about that for a second and his eyes widened. "I...Merlin, I hadn't even thought about...oh bloody hell, Sirius! What am I going to...argh, I knew there was something I wasn't thinking through." He ran a hand through his messy black hair. "What am I going to do about this?"
Astoria thought for a moment. "Do you have a house elf?"
"A house...oh. Dobby." Harry said, his brain nearly shorting out. "Why hadn't I considered...why...oh! Lord, I'm stupid," He said sheepishly. "How exactly am I supposed to call for Dobby though?"
"Master Harry Potter Sir calls for Dobby!" The elf proclaimed, appearing in their room with a crack. Harry yelped, but Astoria hardly blinked, as though this were a perfectly ordinary occurrence.
"Dobby! How..." Harry started in confusion.
"Oh Harry, house elves work by strange magic. You just need to call the one that's bound to you and he'll come, no matter what." Astoria explained, smiling at his expression.
"Great, Dobby you can be of help to me but first you have to promise not to tell anyone where I am or where to look for me. Okay?" Harry said.
"Dobby promises Harry Potter Sir that he will be safely hidden."
"Great." Harry grabbed the pen from the desk and scribbled a quick letter to Sirius, saying that he was safe and not to worry. "Here, I need you to take this to Sirius. If he sends a reply bring it to me okay? And don't let anyone else see you."
"Yes sir, I will do as you ask." Dobby took the letter and vanished in a crack.
Harry let his breath out. "Well, there's that. Funny, I didn't realize elves could do that."
Astoria's brow furrowed and she studied Harry. "No one told you about these things?" She said. "Why wouldn't any of the houses you're family is aligned with tell you about your history and how the world works?"
"Houses?" Harry echoed blankly, sitting down next to Astoria again. "Alliances? This is the first time I'm hearing about this."
"Well," Astoria said, "Your parents weren't deeply involved in pure blood politics, but they had alliances with other families. Some were passed down from Potters who were more involved in pure blood society, and others were formed more recently just out of friendliness. The Longbottoms and the Potters, for instance, have been having children standing side by side for centuries. Charles Potter and Orion Black were close in their youth before the first war drove them apart. Amelia Bones was a close friend of your father and mother. And that's just the few I know of. To uphold their old friends and bonds, they should have been there to tell you these things when you returned to the wizarding world."
Harry blinked. "But I barely know Neville. He's never been close, though we were at least friendly before my name came out. Amelia Bones...her niece Susan has been cold towards me thanks to the Hufflepuff hive mentality of 'Harry's-trying-to-overshadow-our-champion' party line."
Astoria sighed. "Good lord. All over one tournament. People really do turn on a knunt." She smiled up at him, her eyes warm. "Well, I guess it will be a trade-off then. You'll teach me about muggles and I'll teach you about magic."
Harry smiled back at her, his chest feeling warm. "I like the sound of that."
Back in Britain
The Aurors appeared in front of the school very close to nighttime. Dumbledore went out to meet them, and despite his strenuous insistence that no one else listen many Hogwarts students including Hermione and Daphne slipped out of the castle to hear the report.
"There's no sign of him." Kingsley Shakabolt said gravely. He was a good auror and sometimes he questioned the logic of the things Dumbledore did, this time being one of them. "Anywhere. I talked to the goblins, but according to them there's been no withdrawals from his or Greengrass's bank accounts. That suggests that they haven't gotten far, but we've gone through all the nearby areas and they're nowhere to be found."
"Checked back with his muggle relatives," Nymphadora Tonks added. "Nothing from them either, so he's probably not moving around by muggle means. I didn't think that was likely anyway, given that Astoria probably wouldn't last long trying to pretend to be a muggle." She scowled. "They didn't seem to worried about him vanishing. I don't like them much."
Dumbledore made a mental note to steer any further investigation away from the Dursleys. It could potentially give way for them to air some unwelcome truths about the way they were raising Harry. Just the way they threw around the word 'freak' was likely to raise eyebrows. "Then where could he possibly be?" Dumbledore demanded. "Britain is his homeland. He can't have gotten too far, as you said."
"The search is ongoing," Kingsley said with a hint of annoyance. "We don't have a whole lot to go on though."
Dumbledore pinched his nose. "Why would they run away?" He asked himself aloud.
Tonks snorted. "Maybe it has something to do with the really crappy way everyone's been stomping all over him ever since Halloween?" She suggested in a tone dripping with sarcasm. It made her sound like Sirius had prior to his imprisonment. The younger Black's constant sarcastic remarks had always been a sore point for Dumbledore in earlier years, one he'd tolerated out of needing the boy's assistance and bloodline.
Dumbledore shot Tonks a scowl. "Mere school ground shouting. It's never driven a schoolboy away before."
"Mere?" Tonks echoed with distaste, "From what I've been hearing they treated him like a worse pariah then they do the Slytherin students."
"His name came out of the cup, my hands were tied. I expected that it was simply one of those falling outs that actually strengthens the relationships in question by the time it blows over."
Tonks stared at him. "Sir, with all due respect, I highly doubt that that was the nature of this particular treatment, and I've hardly witnessed any of it! It's my understanding that he wasn't welcome anywhere around other students. That everyone treated him terribly."
"I admit I agree with Tonks," Kingsley said. Seriously, he added, "And I'm getting the sense that Amelia Bones is starting to think along those lines as well. She's very suspicious of the fact that Harry has chosen now to run away, after the other things that have happened to him."
Dumbledore whitened slightly. "I think I should to go the Ministry tonight," He said. "Perhaps I can be of assistance to Madam Bones in this pressing investigation."
Tonks mouthed out something that looked like 'yeah, right', and the three of them left the grounds and disapparated.
End Chapter
I realize some people are worried Harry and Astoria are falling too fast, so I've slowed it down a bit. They'll have a few real talks before they have their first kiss. Also, most of the places that they'll be visiting have been outlined! I'm really looking forward to it. First, they'll be moving around Paris. The World is an interesting place!
Read and Review please!