Aster was frequently finding herself at a loss. She knew she was worrying her friends and family, although at a loss as to why. So she didn't eat as much? She still ate more than what she did when living with her aunt. She had always been a pretty bad sleeper, although she felt guilty that there had been times she forgot to cast the Silencing Charm so the other girls wouldn't get rudely awoken by her having nightmares.

She didn't know why she was reacting as she was to Professor Quirrell and his weird fascination with her. She hadn't told anyone this, including Theo, but he had been paying her more attention since that day. On her sole walks along the lake or through the maze of corridors she would often find herself coming across his path. He would strike up a sort-of conversation, his eyes bleeding red and his speech impediment less pronounced. He never tried to touch her, nor had he ever alluded to the weird perversions Aunt Petunia had warned her about as a young child. She wasn't complaining - she had enough of anxiety when it came to him without anything else being added to the pile.

In those spontaneous sessions he would talk at her - giving her backward compliments on her studies, chastisement for her declining effort in her lessons. He also seemed to find it fascinating that an orphaned Half Blood like herself was able to overcome the stigma that resided in Slytherin House and to gain friends from the near beginning. She only ever provided monosyllabic responses, or even nonverbal if she could - utilising shrugs, shakes of the head and other gestures to great effect. It always grated on Quirrell with her lack of responses, and when she tried to respond she'd got the impression that she was making it worse.

Seeing him in the corridors were easier as she could dive into an alcove or sequester herself away into an empty classroom as he scampered by, muttering to himself excitedly. When outdoors she could hardly do so, she'd have to stand there and wait for him to move on; as such, she had made it that she would always be with someone when leaving the castle. Quirrell always approached her when she was on her own, ignoring her existence if she wasn't and managed to see him. She didn't know whether she was relieved at that or not; she was still tense and stiff as a board even when he didn't even look at her, wondering if and when that would no longer be the case.

So when exams had finally come around, Aster was one of the few who was pleased; she could finally busy herself doing endless amounts of revision, even pushing herself to tackle History of Magic - although that was more of a self study. She was quite often found in the library, piles of books hiding her from view, and spread across the table. Which was sort of on purpose as she was still being almost tracked by Granger when she saw her and would sit herself down there. The only way Aster had found which would prevent her was to cover the surface as Granger was too respectful to move things that didn't belong to her.

There was one fatal flaw in her fort though - she couldn't see who was about, which she had realised when it was too late.

Quirrell had slunk his way to her corner, taking in the obscene amount of material piled high with no reason. He seered at the sight before recovering his hesitant and meek facade, which was getting increasingly hard to do. He both felt weaker than he ever had before, and stronger in other ways which he could never imagine. Whatever his Master was doing frightened him but the Ravenclaw side of him wished to devour any and all knowledge bestowed upon him.

"M-m-miss P-p-potter, h-how l-lo-lovely t-to s-s-see y-you h-hard at w-work." He simpered, wringing his hands in front of him, pressing down the urge to smile as he saw her flinch and tense up.

"Er...hello, Professor." She mumbled, barely looking at him before bowing her head and scribbling random words that may have helped with enough pressure to nearly break her quill.

"M-must s-s-say I-I'm g-glad t-to see a f-f-first year t-taking their su-subjects s-s-seriously." He prompted, moving closer to her silently, trying to read her notes through her mass of hair. It didn't help her head was bowed so low it further hid the parchment.

He rolled his eyes as she nodded a bit before scrunching her shoulders up to her ears. He was going to have to try another tactic.

"W-would y-you b-be w-willing t-to h-help m-me? F-for e-ex-extra cr-credit of c-course." He needled, narrowing his eyes at her hesitance.

"I'm sure I shouldn't be too much help, sir. I'm only a first year, after all." Aster pointed out hoarsely, chewing her lip and clenching her fist as she chanced a glance to look at him and flinching when she saw he had moved so much closer than before.

"N-nonsense! N-no-b-body else h-has ex-exp-pressed a d-d-desire t-to d-do so."

Including me, Aster couldn't help but think. "What about Granger?" She asked pointing to the bushy haired in question who was surrounded by her own hoarde of literature.

Quirrell pulled a face before smoothing it over quickly once he realised he hadn't stopped from doing so. "M-miss G-g-granger i-is n-not s-s-suite t-to...D-d-defence, I-I'm af-afraid." He cajoled, resting his hand on the back of her chair, careful to not touch her, as he began to crouch down.

"What, er, what will I be doing?" Aster sighed, slumping her shoulders and gnawed on her bottom lip again.

Quirrell smiled, baring his teeth, "S-something I th-think y-you'd b-be i-in-interested in. I-I'll s-sent the d-details t-to you." He answered, slowly getting up to stand over her again, taking his time to take in her scrawled writing. "E-enjoy t-the r-rest of y-your d-day...M-m-miss P-p-potter." He crooned, before moving off and his posture returned to a slump.

Aster banged her head on the table. What the hell did I just agree to? Aster thought to herself followed with a creeping horror of, Snape is going to kill me!...oh Gods...Grandfather will slaughter me. Aster whimpered, thumping her head again on the table twice more gaining a sharp "Hush!" From the librarian.

"Are you OK?" A quiet voice asked from by the table making Aster jump, seeing Granger frowning at her while biting her lip.

"Honestly? No idea." She admitted, shocking them both.

"Oh. Well, um, did you want to talk about it?"

"No." She stated bluntly, making Granger falter, and Aster inwardly wince in guilt. "I don't...talk...to people. Not about...things." She offered, aiming for a comforting voice but instead it coming out thinly.

"You talk to Nott and Zabini." Granger disagreed primly, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Your point?"

"Well...if you can talk to them, you can talk to me. I won't judge."

Aster's eyes narrowed, "As opposed to who?" She cautioned lowly, gripping her quill in an iron grip.

"Er...no- no-one." Granger backpedalled, biting on her lip harder.

"Hmm. I'm sure." She sighed. "What do you want, Granger?"

"To know if you're OK."

Aster rolled her eyes, "I meant in general. With me. You've been, well not following me, but...being around. When I'm on my own. What gives?" She asked suspiciously, tapping her foot under the desk.

"Oh. Well, to be perfectly honest - your friend." She declared before dragging the seat by Aster out and sitting in it and turning to look at her.

"My...friend?" Granger nodded. "...Why?" Aster dragged out slowly, worried for the girl's health.

"Well, after Hal - Samhain - I realised, well, that I'd quite like to know you." At Aster's continued blank and confused look she sighed heavily. "You were kind, when nobody else was."

"Kind?" When was she kind? All she could remember was ignoring her when she said to go away and then not letting her get eaten or whatever by a Troll.

"You ensured I wasn't alone. And stayed with me when the Troll came in. And you tried to make me laugh!"

"I did? When?" Aster scrunched her nose, scrambling through the events of nearly nine months before.

"When you offered to throw me to it and use the distraction to run, of course!"

Bugger. She thought she was joking. "Right. Yes. Of course...and that warrants...friendship?" Oops, she forgot that this was the girl who then started a friendship with the two boys who bullied her just because they came to her aid.

Granger paused, blinking at her. "Only if you want to, of course. I wouldn't wish to impose myself on to you." She said as she looked at the table currently covered by books and scrolls so that nobody else could use it.

Oh gods. How do people do this? What was she supposed to say to that? She could hardly say no, even she knew that was a bit blunt. But...she wasn't entirely sold on saying yes either. Where was Daphne when she needed her? She'd know how to go about this.

"Er..." was her strangled eloquent reply, her mind going totally blank, especially so as Granger slumped in her seat.

"Oh...um...you don't need to respond right away, of course. I'd just like to extend the offer. I just thought - well, you're friends with Greengrass and Parkinson, so..." She shrugged. Was she friends with the girls? She wasn't entirely sure; she talked with Daphne a fair bit, but she was teaching her stuff, and did her hair. She spoke to Pansy but there was always a divide between them for some unknown reason.

"Honestly Granger - "

"Hermione."

"...Hermione...right...I don't know who I'm exactly friends with. Theo is a yes, Blaise I'm pretty certain but other than that, no bloody clue." Aster confessed reluctantly, casting her eyes about the place for somewhere else to look other than the big brown eyes pleading to her. "Look. The best I can probably say is...I'll talk with you, to you, whatever, but I won't guarantee - well - anything."

"That's fine!" Granger grinned - she didn't know her half as well to call her Hermione yet. "Oh, well, as long as you're OK, I'll leave you to it!" She declared brightly before getting up and moving off back to her table - after tucking in her chair properly.

Again - what did she get herself into?

The next few days were covered by the beginning of the actual exams and the sounds of students sobbing and snapping when they realised they weren't nearly as prepared as they thought. The first years quickly learned to leave the fifth and seventh years alone completely - if they were in the common room then you vacated the premises ASAP. Aster was enjoying the the chance at actually using her knowledge for some tangible reasons, rather than trying to learn different theories in maths and terms in English which she didn't know how would be used later in life. The exams also helped to keep Aster distracted as the days passed since Quirrell spoke to her in the library and there was no communication from him. She hoped that meant he had forgotten all about her, but didn't have too much hope in that.

It was the Thursday morning of the first week of exams when a school owl fluttered an evelope to her at breakfast. Frowning at the nondescript parchment, she slit it open and had to stop herself from physically reacting. In Quirrell's handwriting was simply:

Entrance Hall, ten o-clock tonight.

Knowing that even just freezing would alert those around her, she glanced up at the High Table to where the professor sat and saw him already staring at her, his nostrils flaring and eyes narrowed dangerously. Giving a subtle nod she folded up the parchment and shoved it into her bag.

The rest of her breakfast was only nibbled at, her usual porridge exchanged for toast with an extremely generous amount of butter on top. The others around her kept looking at her from the corner of their eyes, or would pointedly glare at her plate then her - in the case of Theo.

Once the meal was finally over they meandered their way around until it was time for the exam. Aster was glad it was at least Charms so that she didn't need to think too hard on facts and dated, allowing her to go on almost autopilot while her mind whirled with other important things - like her nighttime meeting with the professor who scared the bejeesus out of her.

The three hour exam was over too soon - she wasn't entirely sure what she had written but was sure that she at least got an Acceptable; the written side of things were never her best anyway. She recalled going into the theory of the Levitation Charm a bit too much, and waxing on about the Severing and Blasting Charms. She was also pretty sure she made some rubbish up about the uses of a pineapple dancing.

The practical side of the Charms exam seemed to take forever - she never hated her surname as much as knowing she was right in the middle of the lot. At least she had Theo near enough to be in the same cluster as her.

About an hour and a half into her waiting in silence, bouncing her leg much to the annoyance of her classmates, she was admitted in. Malfoy, Theo, Pansy, Perkins and Oswald were in her group and they all looked similarly uneasy over the upcoming hour. They saw the previous selection of students going through their final spells, complete with cooing over Longbottom and his abilities. Not that Aster was bitter.

They were met by three elderly Witches and Wizards, one of whom looked older than even Dumbledore but instead of a beard his snow white hair fell down his entire hunched over back, making him look even smaller.

"Now, as there're six of you, instead of the usual four, we're going to be doing this a bit differently." An Irish version of McGonnagall said, complete with pursed lips and her hair scraped back. Instead of black hair and a pointy hat though she wore a grey woolen cloche hat over dark ginger hair. "We'll keep the lasses together." She told her two colleagues who nodded before taking the three boys off to one side.

Irish McGonnagall walked off back to the side, seeming to be going through a roll of parchment and brandishing a quill with relish.

"Come...this way...please." The ancient man rasped, hobbling over to a free corner of the room.

"Miss...Perks...first. Please per...form...the locking...Charm." He waved, as he seemed to almost sit on the desk and pointed at a simple wooden chest on the table.

"And now...the unlocking...oh...well...done. Light...the candle." He instructed in his gravelly voice, seeming to take relish in Perks struggling to fine tune the spell enough to only light the small wick in front of her. It did give him time to actually breathe, Aster couldn't help but think.

When Perks managed to almost burst the entire candle into flames instead, he put it out with a lazy wave of his hand, before asking her to blast the chest into smithereens and then fix it again.

Aster zoned out, barely paying attention to the huffs of frustration coming out of the Hufflepuff as the box wouldn't fully come together. The rest of her alloted time was spent on the various other spells that were learnt throught the year, the old man seeming to barely pay attention until things got out of hand - like her pineapple had started dancing and then somehow turned into two pieces.

By the time it was Aster's turn after Pansy, the next group of students had rolled in, leaving only Oswald and her left of their troupe. Her spells went a bit better than her predecessor's, not managing to blow up the box for instance, although it took her longer to go into the spells themselves. She didn't want to just start spouting them out, remembering the movements and inflections before saying them. More than likely lost her points, but as long as she passed she was OK - anything extra was a bonus.

When she finally finished and went outside she went and sat bay the others, waiting for Blaise to eventually make his way out.

"Parkinson said Perks took forever to get through hers." Theo said in greeting, budging up she so could sit next to him on the stone bench.

"Hmm. Maybe she didn't like being with two Slytherins."

"She is a Hufflepuff. Probably worried you were going to kill her and hide her body."

"Please." Aster scoffed, "As if we would kill her in front of people. Besides," she sniffed, "We don't know her. She beneath our concerns."

"Harsh, Potter." Malfoy piped up, before rolling his eyes at the astounded looks he got. "I said harsh - not that she was wrong."

"Whatever happened to the sweet and shy young girl in September? She was so lovely." Baise remarked from behind them, making them all jump.

"She didn't exist. I think you've been hallucinating again, Blaise. You should see someone about that." Aster retorted, patting his shoulder in mock comfort.

"How're you out so early?" Malfoy demanded, raising an imperious brow at the sheer audacity that he was early.

"You guys were the largest group. And I'm just too good." He shrugged, leaning back on his hands. "Weasley is still in there. Last thing I saw was him set the table on fire." He snickered, thinking on the look on everyone's faces, especially Weasley's who turned a tomato red.

"Well at least we have freedom now for today. What're we going to do?" Daphne asked as she smoothed her skirt against her legs and picking off invisible lint.

"We could go down to the Lake?" Pansy offered brightly.

"Ugh. Everyone is going to be down there." Malfoy whined, as everyone else got to their feet at the suggestion.

"Come on, Malfoy! Anyone would think you disliked the everyday person. Won't they, Fair Flower?" Blaise mocked, slinging an arm across her shoulders.

"Don't look at me. I don't like the everyday person, either."

"I'm not an everyday person?!" Blaise gasped, "Nott! Did you hear? I'm special!"

"Believe me - we already knew that." Theo drawled, sneering at a group of sobbing Hufflespuffs and ignoring Blaise's pout.

"There's no need to be mean."

Theo turned his head to look at him before glancing behind them. "I think that group of 'Puffs are able to accept another weepy wuss."

"Don't make me ill, Nott." Blaise curled his lip, "I only weep when it's fortuitous to do so."

"When would it be...fort..utous...to cry?" Aster frowned.

"Usually when trying to make oneself look vulnerable in order to gain attention or affection etcetera from someone." He told her as they found an empty area big enough for their group and sat down. "It's usually against women, in all fairness. Especially the older generations. For all their brass and steel, they're highly susceptible to a crying child."

"I'll... keep that in mind, thanks."

"I live to please." He smirked languidly, reclining back on to his elbows and stretching his legs out.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in peace, with the rare summer warmth basking down on them from a cloudy sky. Students milled about the grounds, some splashing about in the waters of the Lake, some playing with the Giant Squid, and others must have brought or Conjured a Muggle football as some were kicking that about.

In the Great Hall that evening, Albus enjoyed seeing all the smiling sun-kissed faces of his students laughing with one another, the volume of the Hall near deafening compared to its usual level.

The Gryffindors were always hard to manage at the best of times, but on warm and sunny summer days it was near impossible to wrangle them. The majority of the noise could be contributed to them, the sight of balled up parchment being tossed about, making Minerva twitch in irritation. Mr Longbottom was certainly in an exuberant mood, holding court with his peers as Mr Weasley hung on to his every word.

The Hufflepuffs also appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely, although in a more well behaved manner. Grinning faces and calls to friends were shouted out over the length of the table, enjoying the relaxation of studies due to the exam weeks now being upon them. Strangely they always tended to be the ones less stressed over the pressure - most people figured it would be the Lions with their live in the minute attitude. Yet each year the Badgers would take it in stride - there were always other avenues to pursue if they didn't get the grade they wanted.

The Ravenclaws were, as expected, the quietest of the bunch. The majoring of them either had their books in front of them, scavenging as much tidbits that may have escaped their other perusals. Others may be quizzing on different subjects or their subjects, adding in extra information when needed. And there were others who were confident in their own skills and knowledge, knowing that cramming anything else will promptly be forgotten if not already remember in their precious studies.

The Slytherins were a mix of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs mentality. Most were confident that they didn't necessarily need to have spectacular results as they could fall back on their wealth. Others still felt the pressure of keeping up the Family name and ensuring that they didn't present an idiotic front - the young Malfoy boy being a prime example. Yet the House didn't have any revision aids with them - it was merely slipped into conversations if the option arose.

Albus couldn't help but gaze at the mass of students and forlornly think of the number of those who had wasted their opportunities for one reason or another. In Slytherin, the most prevalent were those who fell victim to the allure of Tom - such as Bellatrix Black, who was a prodigy who Charms and yet decided her worth was best used as a servant to torture.

Hufflepuffs usually ended up consent with any lot they were given; with a few like Amos Diggory, who would sometimes take a big step to improvement if the fancy came up in them.

Ravenclaws were one of Albus' great regrets. So many were happy to seek knowledge for its own sake that they didn't think on how to utilise it for the better of everyone. So many fell by the wayside, tempted by the Dark due to 'unfounded' knowledge instead of contenting themselves with their own skills.

Gryffindors, he was somewhat abashed to admit, were still his favourites. Their confidence in going for the right of the world and looking for the betterment of all, made him proud. Their bravery in face if derision or prejudices made them stand tall so that they could overcome difficult. Even those like Mr Longbottom, who became arrogant in their bravery, still symbolised a goodness that could easily be overlooked. Especially in the climate of Wizarding Britain as it currently was.

Albus almost mourned for the next generation of Slytherins - they were observed and judged from such a young age. Moulded into figures they may naturally be anathema to. He remembered seeing young Narcissa Black helping her cousin traverse the politics of Hogwarts, nearly uncaring of the retribution that would come from their Family.

He looked more closely at the Green Table, inspecting Aster closely. The young girl had been floundering of late, enough to concern him - she had never been a truly healthy weight but she had quickly lost what she did have, her robes now swamping her figure. Her pallor was almost grey with fatigue and malnutrition; Poppy had already been to both he and Severus to tell them that if she isn't approached about her health then she would otherwise she'd end up severely ill. As Albus took in her appearance, he couldn't help but agree with the esteemable Maron - not that he'd tell her, she'd be insufferable.

He was hoping that Aster's upset disposition was due to the stress of exams, especially as this was her first year. Yet, as time went on she seemed to drag deeper into depression, and that night she looked positively grim. She hadn't even pretended to touch the meagre portion of food on her plate, only taking the occasional sip of her drink before falling back into stillness. He didn't like to interfere in the lives of his students too much - but he had learnt from his previous mistakes; sometimes inaction was the worst thing to do. As such, he would contact Ifan tonight and arrange a time for them to discuss the welfare of the young girl.

"I'm worried about young Miss Potter." Minerva piped up, frowning at the girl as she took a mouthful of her own soup. "She cannae go on like this. She's ganna turn ill if she's not careful." She fretted, making her Scottish brogue become stronger.

"If the girl is too stupid to look after herself, then there's little chance anyone can change that for her." Severus scoffed as he picked at his own meal.

"You're one to talk! Ye barely eat half a' adults portion, let alone a child's."

"And yet...I still eat." He countered, pointedly staring at her as he ate another mouthful.

"Ha!" Minerva barked, "only 'cause Poppy has been on ye arse for nigh two decades."

Severus' lip curled, "Thank you for that image, Minerva."

Minerva smirked before flicking her eyes back to the girl. "I really think something is wrong. Is there nothing we can do, Albus?" She implored, turning to her old friend.

"I'm afraid, Minerva, that in this instance if she has not come to someone with her worries then there is little we can do." He said gravely. "All we can do is keep watch on our young friend."

Minerva sighed before narrowing her eyes at him. "Ye say that but you've got that look on your face. You're planning something."

"I usually am."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Well at least you're honest. Ye going to share?"

"No. I don't think I will." He smiled benignly at her, before going back to make his roast dinner in a marvelous landscape of Hogwarts. He really missed his chance of an artist. He managed to make his

yorkshire pudding into a moat for his gravy and castle of meat, his vegetables providing the Forbidden Forest.

In the corner of his eye he could see Minerva scowl at his plate and chuckled internally; he'd never admit it, but most of the time he did this just to rile her up. Severus and he had a bet going on whether if she immediate turned into a cat, if her tail would be pre-bristled. He was sure it would - and one day he would ensure to find out.

A/N: Been a few days, but couldn't quite get what I wanted out of this. Keep thinking of future years scenes which isn't helping.