A/N:
Hi! Thanks to everyone who has been reading this fic so far, I hope you continue to enjoy it.
This fic will be updated every Thursday (evening, EST) until it finishes, or I need extra time to finish a chapter.
Thanks to BingBong for his continued assistance editing this fic, and a reminder to all that his idea was the inspiration for the premise of Coincidences.
"This is amazing!" Hermione exclaimed in glee as she looked through one of the notebooks Sirius had given Harry. "I've always wondered how they made the Marauder's Map, and this explains it in detail. It's based on a complex series of runes they set up around the school, and then mapped to the parchment. They discovered the intrinsic magic of the school was powerful enough to perceive the given name of everyone within its walls, and using a frankly mind boggling amount of self-sustaining charms they were able to have that information transferred to the Map! It updates every…"
As Hermione gushed about the magical complexity of the map, Harry and Ron looked through the book of spells.
"Look at this Harry!" Ron said, pointing to one of the spells circled 'important' in the book. "You can cast this on someone to check if they're under the effects of a love potion!"
"Huh." Harry replied. "I'm sure that was very useful for Padfoot back in the day, but I'm not sure how pertinent it is to us."
"What about this?" Ron suggested. "They call this one Fictus Impetus, it creates a huge explosion that looks like a devastating attack, but in reality is just an illusion."
Harry read over the notes in the margin as Ron recited them. "That one actually does sound quite useful." Harry admitted, folding down the corner of the page so he could practice it later.
Cool! It looks like Fictus Impetus was credited to my dad. Harry thought as he noticed the small stylized signature of ~Prongs~ next to the description of the spell. All of the text in the book was written in Remus' neat handwriting, but each Marauder was credited for their own spells with their own signature. Harry made a note every time he saw a spell created by his dad.
I wonder when he came up with this one? He mused. He liked to guess about the circumstances surrounding his dad's spells as he found them in the book, in an attempt to glean some information about what he was like as a person through the spells he made.
Harry was broken out of his reveries when Ron glanced at the other book sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.
"Harry?" He asked. "Are you going to try to become an animagus too, like your dad and Padfoot?"
Interested, Hermione stopped talking to herself about the Map and listened to Harry seriously as he answered.
"I'm not sure yet, to be honest." He shrugged at his friends. "I'm not sure how useful it is for me at the moment, and Sirius said the ritual is pretty dangerous…"
"But it would be so cool!" Ron encouraged Harry.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the boy's juvenile exclamation. "Harry's right, Ron. Until a time comes when it seems important, it's an unnecessary risk. Besides," she continued in the lecturing tone she often took when explaining anything to anyone, "the first page says that the only animal you'll ever be able to transform into is your 'spirit animal'. If Harry goes through all the trouble to identify his spirit animal, only to discover it's something useless, all that time will have been wasted."
"But what if his spirit animal is a dragon! Or a lion!" Ron cried.
"What if it's a lemming?" Hermione retorted.
As Ron and Hermione debated the merit of the animagus ritual, Harry checked the time and realized it was time for him to go meet Astoria.
"Sorry guys, I have to go." He said, packing the books back into his bag and getting up off the couch. "I'll be back in a couple hours."
Ron and Hermione ceased their dispute as they watched Harry exit through the common room door. It had been a trend they noticed over the past couple of weeks; every few days, he would disappear for a few hours after dinner, and be back right before curfew.
"Where do you reckon he's always going?" Ron asked Hermione.
"I'm not sure…" She answered. "Maybe he has a girlfriend?"
Ron scoffed. "Harry? He's so clueless, it'll be years before he gets a girl."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at the equally clueless boy in front of her. She had noticed him being nicer to her these days, and knew what it was likely about, but he had yet to say anything to confirm her suspicions. Besides, she wasn't totally sure how she felt about him in any case, so she was content to just wait and see.
"What?" Ron asked, noticing the look Hermione was giving him.
"Oh, nothing." She replied.
"Astoria?" Harry asked later into the evening, sitting across from the girl on desks as per their routine. "Why do you think you were sorted into Slytherin?"
Astoria gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean? I had to go somewhere, didn't I?"
"Of course. I just mean, and I don't intend any offense when I say this, but you're not exactly the most Slytherin person I've ever met…"
"Oh! I've heard that before." She replied, understanding. "The hat actually gave me a choice, you see."
A choice? Harry leaned in attentively as she continued.
"During my sorting ceremony, the only thought in my head was, 'I want to be placed into the house that will allow me to make 100 friends!' because that was my goal before I came to Hogwarts. Then the hat said to me, '100 friends you say? The attitude of a Hufflepuff, but with the ambition of a Slytherin…' and then I said 'Oh! Oh! My sister is in Slytherin so why don't you just put me in there!' and then the hat was all like 'You might struggle in Slytherin' and then I was all like 'Honestly Mr. Hat I'm not good at studying so I'll struggle anywhere, you may as well just put me in Slytherin, and so here I am!"
You know what? Harry thought. That actually makes a lot of sense.
"The hat actually offered me a choice too," Harry said. "It said I would do great in both Slytherin and Gryffindor, but I had met Draco Malfoy prior, and knew for sure I didn't want to be with him. So I told the hat, and ended up in Gryffindor."
Astoria's jaw dropped. "You're telling me you could've been in my house if it weren't for Draco?"
"Probably."
"Ugh! He's so annoying!" Astoria whined. "We could've met years ago and been friends years ago and we wouldn't have to meet in an abandoned classroom years ago!
"That last one doesn't make sense."
"Yes it does."
They talked into the evening, until curfew came sneaking up on them and they had to depart.
"Same time on Thursday?" Harry asked as they made ready to leave.
"I guess so." She replied, a bit hesitant.
"Is something the matter, Astoria?"
She isn't tired of meeting with me, is she? He thought worriedly.
"It's just, I'm tired of having to pretend I don't know you in the hallways and stuff." She replied with a dramatic sigh. "Can't we just talk in public like normal, instead of hiding away in an abandoned classroom every few days like forbidden lovers?"
Harry blushed at Astoria's metaphor. "It is bothersome," Harry admitted once he collected himself, "but Daphne is right. I may already be a pariah, but it would hardly do for you to become one too. Let's just keep things secret a little while longer, until things with the tournament die down?"
"I guess…" Astoria conceded irresolutely.
"I'm sorry, Astoria. But don't blame me. Blame Malfoy, it's his fault we're not in the same house."
"Oh, trust me, I do."
A few days later, Astoria woke up and headed down to the Slytherin common room like usual. She was greeted by the unwelcome sight of Draco Malfoy, grinning smugly and handing out badges of some kind to their housemates.
"Oh, Astoria!" He called to her as he saw her descend the stairs. "I have something for you."
She took the proffered badge and looked at it more closely. It said "Support Cedric Diggory – The Real Hogwarts Champion" in bright green letters, and after a few seconds, switched to "Potter Stinks" in a bright red.
Astoria stared disgustedly at the badge. "I thought you didn't like Cedric?" She asked the boy.
Draco shrugged, still smiling. "As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
I really don't think Cedric is Harry's enemy… She thought, but resisted the urge to say.
Using all of the discipline her sister had tried to instill in her over the years, Astoria left the common room and discretely threw the badge in a nearby trash bin without making a scene.
All of this staying under the radar is so not my style…
Astoria spent breakfast that morning trying to ignore the fact that all of her classmates and friends were wearing Draco's badges. She had tried to convince her friends to take them off, but when they asked her why, she had to brush it off. She had played off the couple times they had seen her with Harry in Hogsmeade as a coincidence, but defending him any more than she already had would have appeared suspicious.
And because both Daphne and Harry himself didn't want her to reveal her friendship with Harry, she had to avoid suspicion.
And she hated it.
But to honor their wishes, she stayed silent.
And she continued to stay silent throughout her morning classes, when her classmates played with their badges.
And she continued to stay silent throughout lunch, when she saw Draco and his band of lackeys taunting Harry.
And she even continued to stay silent when she saw Cedric Diggory do nothing to stop his friends from wearing the badges themselves.
She drew the line however, at dinner, when she spotted some of the Gryffindor students wearing the badges. The look on Harry's face when he saw some of the people he used to consider friends wear the badge was simply heartbreaking, and when she saw him dismiss himself from dinner early that night, she could stand it no longer.
Sorry Daphne, Sorry Harry, she thought.
And when dinner finished, she went looking for him.
Harry sat in the library with Neville, trying to get his homework done, when a determined looking Astoria came up to him and slammed her books down on his table.
"Harry! I need help with transfiguration."
Wait, why is Astoria talking to me in such a public place!? Harry thought in a panic. Especially now of all times!
He could see the confused glances of many other students looking their way, wondering why a Slytherin was talking to Harry Potter. Unsure of what to do, Harry tried to play it cool. "Oh, hi. Who are you?"
Astoria raised an eyebrow dramatically at him. "Seriously? You're going to pretend all the time we spent in that empty classroom never happened?"
Several gasps sounded from the nearby tables.
"Uhh…"
"Was I just a casual tryst for you? I told you everything about me, laid it all bare, and now you act like we've never met?"
More gasps sounded from the nearby tables, and Harry was almost certain one of them came from Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian.
Harry looked up at Astoria in both shock and horror, but he saw a playful gleam in her eyes.
From beside him, Neville spoke up nervously. "Harry…you should really try to treat women with respect…that's what my Gran always tells me…"
Harry sighed. I guess the cat's out of the bag now either way. I hope Astoria knows what she's doing. He gestured to the seat across from him. "Have a seat Astoria, I'll help you with your work."
"Yay! Thanks Harry!"
Harry turned to Neville, but spoke loud enough that the rest of the library could hear. "And for the record, we never did anything other than talk in the classroom."
"Don't sound so disappointed, Harry." Astoria said.
Harry blushed. "That's not what I meant!" He was about to explain himself when he saw the smirk on Astoria's face and realized she was just having him on. He sighed, and shifted his seat over to look at the book she had opened. "You know what, forget it. What part of transfiguration are you having trouble with?"
"Most of it. And by most of it, I mean all of it."
"Ah."
"Yep."
They spent the next hour going over the basics of third year transfiguration, with a few reminders of second year concepts as well. While she had mostly come to give Harry her support, and having him help her study was just a pretext, she had come away better for it as she realized Harry was in fact a very good teacher.
"Thanks for being so patient with me, Harry." Astoria said gratefully. "Most people give up on me after a few minutes."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I actually find teaching really enjoyable, and it helps that you're a good student." He replied honestly.
Astoria's eyes widened and a happy little smile graced her lips. "No one has ever called me a good student before." She said, and Harry could see that she was actually treasuring the compliment.
Harry felt bad for the girl then, doubly so when he considered she was likely telling the truth. While she did get distracted easily, he found if he could direct her enthusiasm correctly, she actually took to learning quite well. "Well, maybe that's just because no one has ever understood your merits as a pupil before." He said encouragingly.
Astoria's eyes widened again, impressed by the boy's smooth flattery, and she began fanning herself with exaggerated motions as if trying to cool down. She leaned in closer to Harry with a smile and whispered, "Keep talking like that, and that broom closet might not be so far off after all."
Harry's face flushed a deep red. Astoria snickered mischievously and collected her books, saying a quick goodbye to Harry and Neville before leaving the library.
I know she's just kidding, but I really wish she would stop teasing me like that…she's going to put thoughts in my head.
Neville heaved a big sigh from next to him. "Intense girl, that one."
"Tell me about it." He replied.
When Astoria stepped into the Slytherin common room later that day, she braced herself for what she knew was coming.
"Astoria!"
Well that was quick, she thought.
"What the hell do you think you're doing hanging around Harry Potter? Are you trying to be an even bigger disgrace to this house than you already are?"
Astoria located the source of the beratement to a girl standing near the fireplace at the head of the room, surrounded by several equally irate looking classmates.
Of course, it just had to be Pansy Parkinson, didn't it? Astoria thought as she prepared for what she was sure would be an unpleasant conversation.
"I can be friends with whoever I want Pansy," she began with a sigh, "and I don't care-"
"Shut up!" Pansy yelled, and the raw hatred in her face took Astoria by such surprise she took a step back. "I'm sick of you, and I'm sick of your disgusting cutesy act. Why don't you just go-"
Pansy cut her sentence off short as she saw a boy descend from the stairs to the Slytherin rooms.
"What seems to be the problem here, ladies?" Draco said patronizingly.
Pansy took a moment to collect herself before she pointed towards Astoria. "Jenn told me she saw Astoria hanging out with Harry Potter in the library today. She also said Astoria mentioned something about trysts in abandoned classrooms. As you can see Draco, Astor-"
"That's enough Pansy." Draco waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Leave us."
Pansy stared at the boy, hurt visible on her face. She hesitated for a second, as if debating what to do, but eventually with one last venomous glare at Astoria, she stomped out of the common room.
"Astoria," Draco started evenly once the girl left, "is what Pansy said true? Were you talking to Potter today?"
"Yes."
At this, there were scattered murmurs from the pockets of students around the room.
Draco frowned. "And what about these 'trysts'? I sincerely hope, for your sake of course, that there's no truth to these rumors…"
"I fail to see how that's any of your business, Malfoy." Astoria said coldly, having quite enough of this interrogation from the arrogant boy.
The room fell silent as everyone looked towards the rebuffed Draco. His face twitched in anger, but he kept his voice calm as he spoke.
"That's where you're incorrect, Astoria. You see, I've taken an interest in you, and I can't be seen courting a girl who associates with the wrong type of people."
"Wait, what?" Astoria was so shocked she forgot to be angry. "You want to court me? What about Pansy?"
Draco made a disgusted face. "She tries so hard, but still falls far from my standards. Besides, her constant yapping drives me up the wall."
Constant yapping? Astoria thought. He hates constant yapping but wants to court me? He clearly hasn't been paying enough attention…
"So how about it, Astoria?" Draco said with a confident smile. "Next Hogsmeade weekend, I'll meet you by the gates at eleven. Of course, you'll have to cease this silly pity project with Potter, but it's a small price to pay-"
"Ew, no."
The entire room froze, no one moving a muscle.
"What?" Draco said, affronted. "I must've misheard you. For a moment there, I thought you said-"
"Then I'll say it again." Astoria interjected before he could finish, putting her hands on her hips. "No. You're mean, petty, and disrespectful. I have absolutely no interest in being 'courted' by you, and I never will."
At this harsh rejection, several students gasped, and Draco's face contorted into one of rage.
"And for the record," Astoria continued, "I won't stop associating with Harry, because he's nice and he's my friend. He also doesn't mind my 'constant yapping', which already makes him a whole lot better than you."
"You insolent little!-" Draco drew his wand in a fit of fury, but was cut off as a spell hit him square in the chest, freezing him where he stood.
"Daphne!" Astoria exclaimed, turning to see her sister standing in the doorway with her wand raised, out of breath.
"Astoria." Daphne said as she caught her breath. "I came as soon as I heard what was going on. He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No. I might've lost a few brain cells listening to him speak though." Astoria smiled.
Daphne laughed, relieved that her little sister was okay. "And heaven knows you had precious little to lose in the first place."
"Hey!" Astoria retorted, as Daphne came over to ruffle her hair.
"Now Astoria, you're coming with me to my room. We have things to discuss."
Eep!
Daphne spared one last glance around the room at the other Slytherins, none of whom were meeting her gaze, and dragged her sister away.
"I'm sorry Daphne!" Astoria said as soon as her sister closed the door to her room. "I know you told me to keep things with Harry a secret, but you saw the badges today, they were bullying him!"
Daphne sighed. "I'm not mad at you, Tori."
"You're not?"
"No. If anything, I'm a little proud that you stood up for your friend like that. I heard you reject Draco as well, and take it from me, that was cold." Daphne smiled conspiratorially at her sister.
Astoria smiled back, before her expression switched to confusion. "Speaking of which, what was that about, anyway? Since when has Draco Malfoy been interested in me? We've never even spoken before!"
Daphne shrugged. "I don't think he was interested in you for what you have to say."
"Then why?"
"You might not have noticed Astoria, but you're starting to get pretty. And while you may not have noticed, based on the looks I've seen you getting lately, other people have."
"Aww, you think I'm pretty?" Astoria asked.
"Naturally. You take after me, after all."
Astoria giggled at her sister's mock vanity.
After a moment, Daphne turned to her sister and her expression became more serious. "You know what this means though, right?"
Astoria looked down at the floor sullenly. "I know. I'll be the outcast of Slytherin house for a while."
"Not quite." Daphne gave her sister a soft smile. "We'll be the outcasts of Slytherin house for a while."
At that, Astoria hugged her sister at full strength.
"Speaking of your friendship with Harry," Daphne said cautiously, as they broke away from the embrace. "I heard a rumor about you 'laying bare' with him in the classroom on my way here. You're, um, being careful, aren't you?"
"Oh my gosh!" Astoria blushed furiously. "That's not what I said at all!"
Daphne quirked her head at her sister.
"I was just teasing Harry in the library, and I took it a little too far. The second I said it I regretted it, just, for some reason, I can't seem to help myself around him…"
"For some reason?" Daphne repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm not sure why, but when I see him I get the urge to tease him, and I like it when he blushes."
Daphne swallowed hard. It was time to do her duty as an older sister. "Do you think it's possible the reason is that you like Harry?"
"No!" Astoria denied. "We're just friends! I mean yes I like him, but I don't like like him."
"But you like it when he blushes?"
"And when he smiles." Astoria added.
"When you speak to him, does your heart race?"
"And sometimes I feel butterflies in my stomach too." Astoria admitted.
"When you think about him with another girl, do you get sad?"
"I've never thought about him with anoth-"
Astoria's sentence cut off as she imagined Harry holding hands with Fleur Delacour, walking along a beach at sunset. She felt a twisting in her gut, and tears started to form at the back of her eyes.
"Okay Astoria, that's enough of that." Daphne said, taking pity on the miserable looking girl and shaking her out of her painful delusion.
Astoria stood there staring at the floor for a few seconds until her eyes widened in alarm and comprehension.
"Daphne?"
"Yes?"
Astoria turned slowly to look up at her sister, an expression of revelation clear on her face.
"I think I have a crush on Harry Potter."
The next morning at breakfast, Harry sat with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny like usual.
"So let me get this straight," Ron said. "You've been meeting up with Daphne Greengrass' sister in secret every few days for the past three weeks."
"Yes."
"And yesterday all the Slytherins found out, and that's why she's sitting alone?"
Harry looked over to the Slytherin table, where Astoria sat with her sister and her sister's best friend Tracey Davis. The other members of her house were keeping their distance, even her usual friends, and he could see many whispers and pointed fingers directed towards the girl. He had spared her his fair share of glances that morning already, and every time he saw her his heart ached at the situation she found herself in due to him.
"...Yes."
"Wait!" Exclaimed Hermione, putting the pieces together in her head. "That's where you've been going after dinner. To meet up with Astoria!"
Ron caught on surprisingly quickly, considering it was Ron. "And that's why you've been sneaking looks at the Slytherins lately!" He added, pleased that he had made the association. "You haven't been staring at Daphne, you've been staring at Astoria! She's the one you have a crush on!"
Ginny frowned at this, and turned to look at Harry. Harry for his part blushed furiously and waved his hands around in front of him.
"I haven't been staring!" He denied, "And I don't have a crush on her, we're just friends!"
Ginny let out a sigh of relief at this, but Ron and Hermione just exchanged glances.
Noticing the look that passed between them, Harry growled in frustration. "I hate it when you guys do that!"
"I'm sorry about your friends, Astoria." Tracey said sympathetically. "I'm sure they'll come around eventually."
"I'm sure they will too." Astoria nodded nonchalantly. "And if they don't, well then they weren't very good friends to begin with now were they?"
"That's…really mature of you, actually." Daphne said, a bit surprised at how well her sister was handling her soft exile from the house. "And Tracey's right. Most of them don't really care about your friendship with Potter, anyway. They're just afraid of angering Draco by hanging out with you."
"But you're not?" Astoria asked.
Tracey scoffed at this. "Draco wouldn't stand a chance against your sister in a duel, and it's not like he can pressure people into not talking to us. We weren't talking to anyone else in the first place!"
"I guess that's true." Astoria replied, realizing that her sister and Tracey really only ever did talk to each other and her.
That can't be healthy, Astoria thought. Should I be doing something about that?
"You know, Astoria," Tracey began, a playful smirk on her face. "Personally, I find it really romantic that you showed your support for him, even knowing what it would do to your friendships in Slytherin. You must have it bad for him."
Daphne smacked her friend on the shoulder. "Hey! No teasing my sister. That's a privilege reserved for me. Besides, she doesn't 'have it bad for him', she just has a little crush. Right, Astoria?"
"Right." Astoria answered.
Right? Astoria thought.
Astoria glanced around the hall and spotted Harry. He had already been looking her way when they made eye contact, a fact that made her heart skip a beat. She beamed and waved her hand vigorously at him, to which he blushed, gave a small smile, and waved back.
Another skipped beat. She loved it when he blushed.
Wow, I actually have it bad for him!
Towards the end of breakfast, Harry got a letter from Sirius. After giving Hedwig a piece of bacon for her troubles, he opened up the envelope, and two tickets fell out.
Lord Chamberlain's Wizards
Traveling Globe Theater, Hogsmeade
AFTERNOON SHOWING - 13:00 - 19/11/1994
Confused, Harry read Sirius' letter for context.
Dear Harry,
I have recently come into possession of two tickets for a stage play this weekend in Hogsmeade, performed by Britain's premier all-magical theatrical company.
Due to my 'circumstances', I can't very well show up in such a public venue, but it would be amiss of me to let these tickets go to waste.
Why don't you bring one of your friends? We'll meet up early that day.
Love,
-Padfoot
Harry thought about this. He had never been to see a play before, and he couldn't deny the prospect intrigued him.
"Hermione." Harry said, turning to his bookworm friend and showing her the tickets. "Would you be interested in going to see a play with me this weekend in Hogsmeade?"
"Of course-" Hermione's words cut off as she read the ticket.
Quidditch and Mayhem
Hog's Head Inn, Hogsmeade
A Spectacle of Brooms and Violence! Audience Participation!
"Actually," Hermione corrected herself quickly. "I forgot. I have an exam I'm really nervous for, and I'll be using this weekend to study."
There was no way she was going to that! It sounded horrible!
Harry turned to Ron. "Do you want to come? I thought I'd ask Hermione first since she likes books and all, but it would be fun to go with you as well!"
Ron wasn't too sure an afternoon watching a stage play sounded fun, but he'd go just for Harry. Besides, it would make him seem cultured, and that might impress Hermione.
"Sure Harry, I'd love to go-" Ron's words cut off as he read the ticket.
Singing Spiders: The Musical
Hadley's House of Horrors, Hogsmeade
The First Arachnid Musical - Now With Real Acromantulas!
"-but unfortunately I have already made plans with Seamus and Dean that day."
There was no way he was going to that! It sounded horrible!
Harry was surprised that both of his best friends had already made plans for that day, but there was nothing for it, he supposed. He turned to his final hope. "Neville? Would you like to come?"
"It would be fun-" Neville's words cut off as he read the ticket.
Never-Ending Tragedies 2
Earnest's Coffee Shop, Hogsmeade
Literally Just Constant Tragedies!
Neville blanched. "Sorry Harry, I'm really bad with stuff like that. I read Wuthering Heights last summer and it took me over three hours to stop crying."
"Oh, okay. No worries." Harry wasn't sure what Neville was so scared of, but he guessed that some plays could be pretty sad, and that wasn't for everyone.
Who's left? Harry thought dejectedly. I don't think there's anyone left who'd go with me…
As Harry looked around the Great Hall, he caught sight of a particular Slytherin girl.
Oh. I guess it's worth a try? He thought. I'll ask her after classes today.
Unbeknownst to him, Ginny followed his gaze, and let out a disappointed sigh.
"This potion will have to be brewed in pairs." Professor Snape intoned to the third year potions class. "As such, find a partner, get your ingredients from the front of the class, and begin."
Astoria looked around at her usual friends hopefully, but none of them would so much as meet her gaze. Today had been a shared class with Ravenclaw, and she tried to call out to some of her acquaintances from that house as well, but they had all paired off rather quickly.
Oh well, she thought. I guess this will be another failed grade for me…
As Astoria walked to the front of the class to fetch her ingredients by herself, she noticed another student, a Ravenclaw she didn't know the name of, doing the same.
"Hi!" She said, "Do you also not have a partner?"
The girl turned to face her. She had straggly, dirty-blonde hair that fell most of the way down her back, and big gray eyes that were opened just wide enough to give her a look of constant surprise.
"Hi Astoria," The girl replied slowly. "As of yet, I don't."
"Well then would you like to be mine? Also, forgive me, but I don't know your name…" Astoria chose not to comment on the fact that despite never speaking before, the girl knew hers.
"I don't mind. I should think it'll be a nice change of pace to work with someone on a group project. I'm Luna Lovegood, by the way."
Something about the dreamy way Luna spoke made Astoria feel calm. "It's nice to meet you Luna!" Astoria said, extending her hand.
"Oh, a handshake! I've always meant to try one of these." Luna said, grasping the other girl's hand with her opposite hand in a strange way that made a couple of their fingers interlock.
Unconventional, but interesting. Astoria thought, looking down at their intertwined hands. I guess this is her first handshake?
"How was it?" She asked the girl as their hands came apart. "Everything you hoped it would be?"
"It wasn't bad." Luna replied pensively. "I'd slot it just behind milkshakes but considerably above earthshakes."
Astoria nodded at this. She could see where Luna was coming from.
With introductions out of the way, they collected their ingredients and sat down at a table towards the back of the classroom.
"Luna, I'm going to be completely honest with you. I'm horrible at potions. Maybe you can take the lead, and I'll follow your directions?"
Luna nodded her head. "That sounds reasonable. Personally, I find potions rather easy, as long as you don't care too much what the end result is."
"Great!"
They worked together efficiently, with Luna leading and giving Astoria tasks to do. While Astoria was no potions expert, she couldn't help but feel some of Luna's requests seemed odd.
"Caress the frog leg before you add it into the cauldron," Luna instructed. "One last loving touch will help it dissolve better."
Astoria was a little bit skeptical, but nonetheless did as she was told.
"Now add two bat wings."
"But the recipe says to add only one?"
"Well sure, but you wouldn't want it to get lonely now would you?"
Astoria thought about this. She has a point, I guess?
"Finally, we'll need to crush the Moonmoss. Personally, I find it easiest to do it with my teeth."
"Like, you chew it?"
"Yes. It has a nice flavor actually, would you like to try it?"
Astoria looked at the clump of moss in her hand. She was pretty sure it wasn't poisonous.
Here goes nothing. She put it in her mouth and chewed it, noting that it actually did have a pleasant kick to it, that reminded her somewhat of a strong green tea.
"Nao woh?" She asked Luna, her mouth full of moss.
"Oh, just spit it directly into the cauldron."
With a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, Astoria tucked her hair behind her ears and spit the chewed up moss into her cauldron as quietly as possible.
"Are you sure that was necessary Luna?" Astoria asked, wiping her mouth on her sleeve and feeling a bit weird about what she had just done.
"Actually, it was a joke. But then you took it seriously and I thought, 'why not?'"
"..."
When the class was almost finished, Snape walked around to inspect everyone's potions. When he got to Astoria's table, he looked into their cauldron with a sneer.
"Last time I checked," Snape began in an irritated monotone, "Serenity Serum was not supposed to glow purple."
Astoria shrank back from the professor's glower, but Luna kept a smile on her face as she answered. "Perhaps not, but this is not Serenity Serum. My best guess is that this potion would function wonderfully as a shampoo."
After classes had finished that day, Astoria and Luna sat in the potions classroom, scrubbing cauldrons in detention.
Even though we have to scrub cauldrons for the rest of the week, seeing the dumbstruck look on Snape's face when Luna spoke to him made it all worth it, Astoria thought. She's an interesting girl, that's for sure.
"Luna?" She spoke to the girl next to her, once the potions professor left the room.
"Yes, Astoria?"
"Do you want to be my friend?"
Luna's eyes widened even more than they already were by default. "You really mean it?"
"Of course! I had a lot of fun with you in class today. Besides, my goal of making one hundred friends recently took a major setback, and I'm looking to restock."
"One hundred?" Luna looked contemplative as she stared off into space. "I wonder how long that would take. I just made my first today…"
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Astoria recited smugly, proud that she had remembered one of her dad's favorite sayings.
"That would be an awfully long fall."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it."
With that, the girls went back to scrubbing cauldrons.
After dinner, Harry found Astoria sitting in an alcove of the castle near the Great Hall, talking to a Ravenclaw girl he didn't recognize.
"Hi, Astoria. Do you have a moment?"
"Hi Harry! Sure, what's up?"
"Oh, er…" Harry said lamely, glancing at the girl next to Astoria.
"I see my presence is unwanted at the moment. Harry wants to speak to you alone, he's just too polite to say it." The girl said. "I'll see you later, Astoria."
As she stood up to leave, she looked at Harry. He startled a bit as her big gray eyes peered up at him. "By the way Harry, I believe you about not putting your name into the goblet. If you were lying, there'd be a lot more Fibberflies hanging around you."
"And I, uh, don't have any Fibberflies hanging around me?"
"No, you're remarkably clear." Luna replied. "But you do have an infestation of Heartglow Sprites, which is usually a sign of someone who's in lov-"
"Thanks! For confirming that I don't have Fibberflies, that is."
"Sure!" She replied cheerfully, before leaning in to whisper in Harry's ear. "I'm sure she'll say yes."
As she skipped away, Harry watched her retreating figure in a mixture of awe and horror.
How did she know what I was going to ask Astoria? He thought.
Astoria laughed at Harry's expression. "Isn't she fun?"
"Uh…I guess so?" He replied. "Is she a new friend of yours?"
"Yup! I met her in potions today. We worked on a project together, and then spent detention with each other after that!"
"Ah."
"Her name's Luna Lovegood. She's really interesting, I think you'd like her!"
"I bet. Hey, listen, are you doing okay?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "I saw the way all the Slytherins were treating you today…I'm sorry you had to go through that for me."
"Nonsense!" Astoria said. "If I had known this would be it, I would've spoken to you in public weeks ago. If my friends can't be friends with me because of who I'm friends with, I don't want to be friends with them! Besides, now we can talk in the hallways! Keeping it secret in the classroom was fun for a while, but now, being open about it feels…nice?"
"Yeah…I think it does feel nice." Harry agreed.
"Anyway, the thing that really surprised me was when Draco Malfoy asked me out on a date to Hogsmeade-"
"What!?" Harry exclaimed in shock.
Astoria was startled for a moment at his outburst. "Yeah, I got back from speaking with you in the library yesterday and Draco was all like 'Don't hang out with Harry, also date me' or something equally eloquent as that."
Harry gulped. "And you said…?"
Astoria raised an eyebrow at him. "No, of course?"
Harry heaved a huge sigh of relief, which he realized too late was more obvious than he was intending.
A small smile began to form on Astoria's face. "And why does my rejecting Draco make you so happy?"
Because I wanted to ask you to go with me to Hogsmeade instead? I can't exactly say that now, can I?
"Uh, because he's rude and wouldn't treat you right. And you're my friend."
Astoria's smile disappeared, and a small frown appeared in its stead at the word 'friend'.
"Was there anything else you wanted to speak about?" Astoria asked, a bit coldly.
Did I say something to make her mad? Harry thought, confused at the tone she had taken.
"Uh, there was one more thing."
"I'm waiting." Astoria replied, tapping a foot on the floor.
How do I ask her to go with me to this play without it sounding like a date?
"Harry, if you're just going to stare at the floor-"
"Do you want to go see a play with me in Hogsmeade this weekend?"
Astoria froze. Did he just ask me on a date? She thought.
Harry showed her the tickets Sirius had given him, and she read them.
Lord Chamberlain's Wizards
Traveling Globe Theater, Hogsmeade
AFTERNOON SHOWING - 13:00 - 19/11/1994
The Lord Chamberlain's Wizards? Astoria thought in shock. Even I've heard of them! They're the most famous company of actors in magical Britain, maybe all of Europe! Daphne is going to be so jealous when I tell her-
"Um, if you don't want to go, it's okay…" Harry said, shuffling his feet awkwardly at the girl's silence.
"No! I mean yes! I would love to go, thanks for inviting me!" She said, and she leapt up to hug him.
Harry stood there with his arms glued to his sides as Astoria hugged him. Apart from Hermione and Sirius, he wasn't used to being hugged, and certainly not by a girl he found so pretty. When Astoria pulled away, she gave him a judgemental look.
"Harry. You're an awful hugger."
"Sorry." He replied shamefully.
"That's fine. It just means we'll have to keep practicing." She said with a wink.
Astoria giggled as Harry reacted exactly as she had been expecting. She took one of the tickets from the inanimate, blushing boy and skipped away.
Halfway down the hall, she turned back to him.
"It's a date, Harry!"
Harry watched as she turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
"It is?" He asked the empty hall, himself, and the world.
"It's a date!" Sirius yelled to himself on the couch of the living room in 12 Grimmauld Place.
Kreacher, sitting on the floor with Max, covered the dog's eyes and ears with his hands. He didn't want the developing canine to be influenced by his master's insanity.
"No one else will go with him, and eventually he'll have no choice but to ask Bacon G-, I mean, Astoria!"
Kreacher had slowly been realizing that while his master was certainly insane, he was likely not going to harm anyone, at least not intentionally. This growing sense of security allowed Kreacher to ask his master a question.
"Master, is this 'date' the reason you made Kreacher withdraw one-hundred galleons from the Black family vaults and wait in line to purchase two tickets for the Lord Chamberlain's Wizards performance in Hogsmeade?"
"Precisely, Kreacher! And it was worth every knut!"
While his master might not harm him, his master was certainly a threat to the ancient family's treasury.
"And how about those enchanted tickets?" Sirius bragged to his old house elf. "Not bad, eh? Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!"
As Sirius laughed at his own joke, Kreacher looked down at the puppy in his arms.
"Let's go for a walk, Max. We'll come back when the master is asleep."
As Kreacher and Max left through the back door, Sirius continued his rambling.
"The plans aren't done yet though, Kreacher!" He said, oblivious that the elf was long gone. "Next he'll need some new clothes, some pocket money, and some flowers!"
Kreacher and Max came back a couple hours later to find Sirius passed out on the couch, snoring, his little book of plans open on his chest.