Part Two
Narcissia sat on the floor, holding her panicking, trembling daughter. It had been a long time since Astra had had such a severe freak out, but it was not at all surprising that she was this upset.
Her son did not look disgusted by this, like he did when he was twelve, and like his father always did. He just looked sad, and a little scared.
"Draco," Narcissia said, "you can sit beside me."
He did, and he leaned against her.
Eventually, Astra stopped trembling and just shut down, but Starbeam stayed on Astra, and Narcissa kept her on her lap.
Lucius got home. He did not look happy. "The dark lord could not defeat Harry Potter, but he is very much alive and back," he said.
"How?" Draco asked.
"Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Pettigrew, and the Carrows ambushed him in a muggle park, killed the muggle witnesses, and used Potter's blood to bring the dark lord back."
With that, Lucius walked to the master bedroom bedroom and slammed the door.
There was a time when he would have been happy that Voldemort was back, but Narcissia was glad to see that he was not. She suspected, and hoped, that change in attitude was not just because his actions with the diary had not yielded good results.
Draco got up, went down the hall and came back. He was carrying a bottle of ink, a quill, some wax seal, and some parchment and envelopes. He went into the functional dining room, and she could hear him setting everything on the table.
Draco came out, and stood in the doorway. "Astra," he said, "you should probably write letters to your friends, to warn them."
Astra looked up. Draco walked up to her, and held out his hand. Astra took it and stood up. Draco led her into the functional dining room, Starbeam followed, and Narcissia brought up the rear.
Narcissia was unsure if Astra was really up to doing anything right now, although maybe having a sense of purpose would help. It seemed a little odd for someone to write at the table in one of the dining rooms, as everyone in the family had their own personal writing desk in their bedchamber, but it kind of made sense right now.
Astra sat down, and Narcissia picked up Starbeam and set her in Astra's lap. Astra dipped the quill into the ink, and slowly began to write.
Dear Weasley family,
You have to help Harry. He's alive. Voldemort could not defeat him, but I'm sure he's not alright.
Some death eaters (not my dad) ambushed Harry in a muggle park, and then they were somehow able to bring Voldemort back using Harry's blood. My father was summoned to Voldemort afterwards, and then he came back and told us a brief version of what happened.
Sincerely,
Astra
P.S. Do not ask for further details. I don't have any.
Draco sent out that first letter for her, via Scorpius, while Astra wrote more letters. She wrote letters to Heather and Hermione, which were pretty similar to the first one, except that they didn't order them to go help Harry. Astra then started her third letter.
Dear Harry,
Astra starred down at it, clearly unsure of what to write.
Narcissia and Draco took the two letters to the owlery, and sent them out. They used the two remaining owls. One of them was Lucius's, but neither of them bothered to ask his permission.
"Draco," Narcissia said, "you're a good big brother."
Draco looked surprised. He paused. "Thanks, Mum," he said.
They went back to Astra, and found her writing.
I am horrified, and I know that for you it must be a lot worse. I'm very sorry, and I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better. Just, remember that you have friends.
Sincerely,
Astra
"The owls are all gone, but we'll send it out the moment one of them gets back," Narcissia promised.
Astra started writing another letter. This letter was addressed to Dobby.
It occurred to Narcissia that if Astra had an owl, they would be able to send four letters at a time. She had gotten Draco his own owl, when he started his first year of Hogwarts, and she had been planning on getting Astra an owl when she started Hogwarts as well. When that time came, Astra had been worried about the fact that she would not be able to give the owl as much attention as she gave Starbeam, and that the owl would be jealous. Narcissia had thought Astra was being too worried about that, but she had respected Astra's decision to not get an owl.
Narcissia laid awake, for a while, unable to fall asleep. She ended up getting up, and writing a letter.
Dear Meda,
The dark lord is back. I thought you should know, especially since your husband is a muggle-born.
I'm sorry that I just cut you off when Mum and Dad did, and I'm sorry that I was unable to understand that it was possible to love a muggle-born wizard.
I do not believe in pure-blood supremacy anymore.
Love,
Cissy
She then wrote on the envelope.
Andromeda Tonks
She put the letter in the envelope, sealed it, and set it on the table next to the one for Harry.
She then checked the owlery, although she suspected that it was too soon. It was.
Her parents had made it very clear that they were ashamed of Andromeda for marrying a muggle-born. She could not help but feel glad that they were not alive today, and not just because she feared how they would react to Astra. Narcissia knew that, if they saw her today, her parents would not be pleased with her.