The month of November dragged by, the students knowing that the next month they were due for a long awaited break causing this month to be interminably long.
Aster's group of friends began to welcome Daphne Greengrass more as time progressed, and not just for the Pureblood lessons. She still spent the majority of her time with Pansy, they had been friends for too long for her to not be her constant companion, but she sought out the trio when the other girl was hanging off Malfoy or Avery was making a pest of himself.
Aster had also been sought out by Granger numerous times, usually when she was on her own. One such day Aster was in the library, huddled at a smaller table in the back corner with a pile of books on Charms so she could talk to her mum about them and best ways to use them. She was making a list of the ones that she was interested in with keywords so she knew what she would be talking about. She didn't particularly enjoy studying, after her entire Muggle school life had been forced on her to do rather badly, the novelty on how to actually put in effort quickly washed away. Despite her finishing her homework earlier than her peers, it was mainly due to Theo doing so, and thus making her do the same.
So to see Aster sitting on her own surrounded by books and writing on parchment was rather strange. Not much had disturbed her: the sudden loud laughter of a group of older students followed by the sharp shushing of Madam Pince, the scraping of a chair against the wooden floor and the Caterwauling Charm placed around the Restricted Section when a student had wandered too close. So when a load of books had been dropped on to the table that Aster was sitting at along with a girly "Oof!" made her jump.
Looking up she saw Granger organising her books and arranging them so that she had a small space for her to scribble on parchment. Aster looked around the room, frowning when she saw at least two empty tables dotted about - what was she doing at hers? Shrugging to herself she went back to her own reading.
"It's lovely in the library, isn't it?" Granger suddenly said, making Aster jump.
"Er...sure."
"I don't think I've really seen you in here before. Not on your own, anyway."
Aster blinked. "I don't usually come in for pleasure, no."
"Oh but you should! There are so many fascinating texts. And not just restricted to the subjects taught either! Did you know, for example, that they have half a bookcase dedicated to the beginnings of wand lore?" She gushed, continuing on before Aster could reply. "There is far more material on the subjects, of course. I must admit, I'm curious at what the Restricted Section contains. I can hardly wait until I may get a pass to look at it."
"Good for...you?"
"Do you know what you want to study in third year? I'm terribly stuck on what I'd study. They all sound rather appealing. Even Muggle Studies - I can't help but wonder how Wizards view them!"
"I can honestly say I've not thought about it." Bloody hell she could talk.
"Oh but you should! It'll be on us before you know it."
"It's...two years away...?"
"It's never too early to be prepared, you know." She sniffed as she thumbed through the pages of her book.
Not knowing what to say to that, Aster gave her a shaky smile before turning to her own reading, desperately hoping that Granger would take the hint and leave her be.
"Neville and Ron already know that they want to be Aurors when they graduate." She said after three blissful minutes of silence.
"Good for them." How predictable. They may as well have said they wanted to be firemen or bloody astronauts.
"Oh definitely. I'm a little unsure, myself. I go from working in the Ministry to update and revitalise laws to something else."
"I'm sure everyone will love that." Aster muttered to herself, thinking of the Purebloods who hated Muggleborns for that very reason. If Granger persisted being this pushy as an adult then she could just imagine the mayhem that she would cause. She'd be a radical, no doubt about it and would further divide the country.
"Aster!" Granger said, making her look up with a frown. "I asked what you want to do?"
"Read in peace." She drawled, ignoring the huff of indignation and the sharp turning of pages. So that's how you shut her up.
It was blissfully quiet for a half hour when she heard Daphne's arrival.
"There you are, Aster. Oh. Granger."
"Greengrass, hello." She replied in a politely prim voice, making Daphne's nose wrinkle.
"Aster what are you doing?"
"I thought it was obvious: reading."
"Yes, very droll. I mean with Granger."
Aster shrugged. "No idea, she just sat down here."
"And she is right here." Granger bit out. "I thought Aster would like the company."
"Clearly you don't know her well. Aster only comes here on her own when she wishes to be alone." Daphne scoffed.
"And yet you're here." Granger scowled back at her, making Daphne smirk in amusement before dismissing her entirely and turning to the girl sat in the corner.
"You've been in here far too long. You missed lunch and Zabini is thinking of making a ransom."
Aster rolled her eyes. "Of course he is. Let me just put these back."
"Oh, just leave them." She dismissed, ignoring Granger's gasp of horror.
"Oh it's no problem. I've got a Charm I want to try." She pulled out her wand, checked her notes and then followed the directions to cast it before " Μακριά". The books rose on their own and slid themselves into their places back on the shelves.
"There. Simple." She grinned, noticing Granger's interested and envious expression and Daphne's vaguely impressed and amused smirk.
Shoving her things back into her bag without thought - she didn't bother with her case with her cheap stationery - she stood up. "Let's go then."
"Bye, Aster!" Granger chirped making Aster turn around and frown.
"Er...bye Granger."
"What was all that about?"
"No bloody clue. She just sat down and started talking at me." Aster offered, not noticing Hermione bow her head and blush as she went back to her books.
"So why is Blaise looking for me?" Aster asked as they walked down the corridors to the common room.
"Because underneath all the blustering, he's a needy boy."
Aster snorted. "Well you're not wrong."
Daphne giggled. "I rarely am. Honestly, I think he's just worried about you sequestered yourself away. And you're welcome by the way."
"For what?"
"Saving you from Granger of course." At Aster's tilted head she pursed her lips. "You were overly tense. I imagine she wouldn't stop talking."
"True. I nearly snapped at her...kind of did, actually."
"Oh? Do tell."
"She was going on what her and the Dumb Duo wanted to do when they left school. She asked me what I wanted."
Daphne smiled, "Oh, sweet summer child. Please tell me you aired your delightful wit."
"Sort of. I told her I wanted to read in peace."
Daphne laughed delightedly, clapping her hands together. "Wonderful! Honestly, who even thinks about that at our age? Seriously at least."
"The girl who already is thinking on what subjects to take in third year."
"But that's two years away!" She frowned with a crinkled nose.
"That's what I said. She didn't particularly like it."
"Of course she didn't. She's a ridiculous overachiever. Oh don't look like that. Its not necessarily a bad thing, but she's ridiculous with it. I think if she wasn't a Gryffindor most professors would be annoyed. As it is, Snape and Fawley certainly dislike her."
"They dislike everyone." Aster pointed out with a laugh.
"True. But the point still stands. Despite what everyone says that the...bias...against Slytherins is reduced, it doesn't negate that Gryffindors can do no wrong still."
Aster couldn't argue against that, she had noticed that herself. The Weasley twins, as much as she enjoyed their jokes, could be malicious in their targeting of Slytherins; their pranks bordered on bullying half the time. Yes they had points taken off them, and placed in detention, but they were never really talked to. And Longbottom was the worst - he had openly accused a number of her House of being Dark, and aspiring to be the next Dark Lord or Lady. For some reason though he had fixated on Malfoy and Aster. Malfoy, she could reluctantly admit, had the connections to be so with his family's leanings, but Aster? Her parents were killed, she nearly, by Voldemort, her family a long standing opposition to his teachings. But she was a Slytherin, and her Grandmother was from a Dark family. So clearly she herself was evil.
"Anyway, why does Granger keep coming up to you? Ever since Samhain she's been popping up."
"Hell if I know. All I did was wait while she was crying, then not leave her to her fate when the Troll was wrecking the place."
"I still can't believe you did that. Most people would have leave her be, especially once she told them to leave."
"What can I say? I'm magnanimous."
"Hmm. Well you're something alright. Well it's your own fault that she won't leave you alone now."
"If I knew what she was going to be like, I probably wouldn't. I've enough of a hanger on with Blaise."
"Yes, he does literally hang off you at times. I'm surprised you let him with your reluctance to contact." Daphne prodded, leaving the explanation open if Aster wanted to. She knew that the younger girl could clam up tighter than an oyster and nothing short of her losing her patience could make her slip up if she wasn't willing to talk.
"I've given up telling him, to be honest. At first I didn't feel comfortable enough to tell him to bugger off, and now he just ignores me."
"Dost my ears deceive me? Do I hear the dulcet tones of Fair Flower talking of me?" Blaise called as they entered the portrait hole and moved towards the First Year Corner.
"Why are you talking like that? You sound like an idiot." Malfoy frowned.
"That's because he is one."
"Nott! You wound me! Fair Flower, did you hear what he said?"
"Yes, Blaise. He could have told you more kindly but we've been trying to find a way to tell you for a while."
He gasped, clutching his heart. "Betrayal of the finest steel pierces me." He paused. "OK, that one was a bit much. Where did you find her?"
"In the library. With Granger."
"Ugh," Malfoy shuddered, "why were you with her?"
"Believe me, it wasn't by choice."
"It's true, when I found her she was as stiff as a board leaning away from her as much as possible, burying her head in her book."
"I was?"
"Mhm. It was quite funny." Daphne tittered, lowering herself on a seat and flattening her skirt against her legs.
"What were you reading? I thought you finished your work." Pansy asked as Theo moved his legs so that Aster could sit in her usual spot.
"I did. Different charms I wanted to try." Aster shrugged, "You guys all had a magical education before you came here. I'm catching up."
"Finally acting like a Witch then Potter?" Malfoy sneered as he tossed a fake Snitch up in the air.
"Here I thought that I was doing that since coming to Hogwarts. And all the accidental magic as a child."
"Real Witches and Wizards don't do accidental magic."
"That tightly wound you only have enough reserves to use magic in lessons? How do you cope?" Aster sassed as she curled up on the chair.
"Now, now children. Wands away. We don't need Snape coming down on our heads." Blaise interjected before Malfoy could respond. "Right, what are we going to do for the rest of the day? I'm bored and nobody has any other work to do."
"Play chess with me?"
Blaise wrinkled his nose. "No thanks, I prefer to play that with actual people and not screaming figurines."
"You're such your mother's son, Zabini."
"That's how family works, yes. I'm glad you've caught up."
Malfoy rolled his eyes before getting up and gesturing to Crabbe and Goyle. "Come on, I want to see if Dumbbottom and Weasel are about."
"You can help me with this list of Charms, if you want. I've only managed one which was putting away the books in the library." Aster offered, dragging out the parchment and handing it to him as he held out his hand.
"These aren't all Latin." Blaise realised as he scanned the list.
"Well spotted."
"The one she did in the library was Greek." Daphne told him as she filed her nails, at his raised eyebrow she rolled her eyes. "You know my family is part Greek - hence our names."
"I thought it was just a family thing, to be honest. Like how the Blacks are all constellations and stuff." Aster wondered, making them all look at her. "What?"
"I thought you were brought up in the Muggle world."
"I was. But I also looked up stuff when I went to Diagon Alley and then spoke to my Grandfather. I'm not completely uninformed."
"And we applaud you for your efforts. But how do you know about the Blacks?"
"Come off it, Pansy, they're not exactly an obscure Line."
"Er, my dad was actually friends with Sirius." Aster quickly interjected to prevent an argument.
"Isn't he the one in prison?" Pansy frowned.
"Mm. Killed a bunch of people." Aster confirmed, not bothering to go into it with the whole fake Secret Keeper fiasco.
"Huh. Strange friends your dad kept, Fair Flower."
"To be fair, every Line has at least one murderer." Daphne pointed out nonchalantly, ending the conversation. Everyone thinking of how most of the parents of the children in the common room may have been included in that observation, and if not, certainly encouraged or entertained the others who did.
"Right then, let's have a go at this list." Blaise suggested into the brief awkward silence.
The remainder of the afternoon before dinner was spent with Blaise helping Aster out, with Theo throwing out suggestions on what to add, and in the case of the Greek incantations, Daphne went through the pronunciations of the words. Pansy threw in extra charms as well, although these were more to do with beauty and glamours.
Aster's list ended up with another two sheafs of parchment with more copious notes on general things that could help her Charms become more successful, from how best to emphasise certain inflections of the incantation, how their parents would hold their wands for specific, or similar, spells that she had listed.
"Are you going to make a Grimoire then?" Blaise asked as they were on their way to
the Great Hall for dinner.
"A what-oire?"
"A Grimoire...a Book of Spells."
"Oh. Maybe. Is that common?" She queried, cocking her head in thought.
"Eh. Not as much as it used to be. Most Lines tend to have something similar but it belongs to the Line and only gets added with new spells that may have been created. Spell creation isn't common anymore, mum says. So the books tend to just lay gathering dust."
"Huh. You think I should?"
Blaise shrugged, "Up to you. I think you'd enjoy it though. I can ask Mum how to go about doing it, if you want."
"Oh, that'd be great. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Mum enjoys fostering old practices and things. She's collected a fair few of them over the years so she'd have a whole repertoire of styles or whatever you could go about making one."
"Is it just for spells you've made though?"
"Shouldn't think so. Could maybe just use the ones you prefer, or something. It's your Grimoire. Do what you like."
"Within reason." She complained with a pout.
"Whoever said that? As I said, it's your Grimoire. You can do all sorts to it for...protection."
"Just imagine if Longbottom found it. He'd definitely have reason to suspect!"
"If he got into it. And depending on what you kept in there. There are ways to keep People out by zapping them with shocks."
Aster grinned evilly. "Your Mum needs to teach me that."
"She'd be delighted. Won't your Granger disapprove though?"
"Doubt it. From what you guys have talked about signatures or whatever, he is firmly within the Grey sector, bordering on charcoal."
"Fair enough. Bet your parents would love that."
"As Longbottom is so keen to point out - dad's mum was part of a Dark family. Making him Grey too."
Accepting that they sat down on the bench, the others making sure Aster put enough on her plate due to her missing the previous meal.
"It seems Miss Potter's friends are as concerned about her eating habits as we are." Albus observed, watching as the Slytherins covertly watched as she put enough on her plate.
"How kind of her to deign us with her presence. My day has been made."
Minerva rolled her eyes. "You say you don't like the girl, Severus and yet you took note of her worries and acted upon them."
"I'm her Head of House, as unfortunate as it is. It is my duty to do so." He sneered as he took a spoonful of stew.
"Speaking of which, I spoke to Ifan a couple of weeks ago." Albus revealed quickly, wanting to prevent an argument. Severus had been rather prickly, well more prickly, since he had met with the girl and Mr Nott.
"And you're only telling us now?"
"Yes. It was a bit of a scolding, in all honesty." He admitted with a sigh. "Flaws in the plan were...pointed out. Quite vehemently. I've spent the time since then to address the issues brought to my attention."
"Such as?" Minerva bristled, her lips pressing into a firm line.
"The easiness of the tasks for the most part. Ifan also admonished me on risking the Stone in such a manner."
"Does he know that Nicolas lent it to you as he and Perenelle are unconcerned if it will be destroyed."
Albus shook his sadly. "No, and I get the impression that he himself hasn't been told, despite his correspondence with him. I wouldn't be surprised if they're hesitant to do so due to how long they've known one another."
"You've known him for a century yourself, Albus." Minerva reminded him primly.
"Ah, but only one compared to his four. I do not blame Nicolas' reticence to break this to him. Ifan is known to have a rather explosive temper, after all."
He had been thinking about it for a long while, he was convinced that when the news was broken to his old friend Ifan would do his best to try and change the Flamels' decision. If he were to be unsuccessful, which Albus was sure would be the case, Ifan's careful calm would quickly splinter in a whirlwind of despair hidden as anger. He would, of course, be there for Ifan when that would happen, but he didn't delude himself that Ifan would be receptive to him for a while. He would likely aportion blame to Albus, perhaps not wholly undeserving.
Albus turned his attention to Aster, taking in the happiness and beaming smile as she spoke to her friends, and he was proud to see her involvement in cheerful chatter. She was too young to have to shoulder the burden of Voldemort, he agreed wholeheartedly with her family on that matter, but he couldn't delude himself that others would feel the same. Voldemort himself would take advantage of her youth and inexperience, or Mr Longbottom's if he believed it was the boy who caused his defeat and was predestined to do continue to do so.
In the quiet of his own mind and quarters he admitted that the scheme he had concocted was riddled with flaws, but that was rather the point. His obvious warning at the beginning of the year was also a theatrical act, he expected the children to flout the rules and spread the gossip of a magical creature being hidden away. He hated to use the children as a means to make his plan work, but it would be too obvious if his staff was so loose lipped of the what was going on on the third floor. But, needs must. It was as the dreaded saying goes; the end justified the means.
When Severus came to him about the worries the two Slytherins approached him about, he was rather surprised. He expected that they would pounce on the opportunity for adventure, digging into the cause of their worries. He was aware of the extracurricular activities that Mr Longbottom, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger were embarking upon, taking out books on the Philosopher's Stone, and as such expected Miss Potter to commence an investigation into Professor Quirrell.
When he remarked about this to Severus his response was laughter. He apparently still had much to learn about Slytherins; they were not the impulsive Gryffindors he tended to associate with, they would make sure someone else dealt with it. They were aware of their own failings, and though prone to arrogance as all children were, they could also concede to another's expertise. They may still look into the matter themselves, of course, but they would do so inconspicuously, more likely to watch and listen than browbeating a half Giant and scouring the library which had a system that made note of who looked at each book.
Despite their age, Albus took Mr Nott and Miss Potter seriously, neither child were the type to make a ruckus over something needlessly. For them to bring an adult's attention to something indicated the seriousness of their concern. Especially as both children had neglectful histories and wary of adults or authority in general.
He was also rather elated that Severus was open to taking note of Aster and her warnings, despite his distate for her father. He still demeaned and disliked her on principle, but he was willing to put aside his prejudice for safety sake. He was thrilled about this as he wasn't entirely certain this would be the case.
So for the past month he had kept an eye on Quirinus, looking for any signs of deceit and threats to the children. He had been unsuccessful. If he had become a follower of Tom then he was able to hide his true person with alarming achievement. Even Tom struggled at times to hide behind a mask. Although, Quirinus had the benefit of hiding behind a previously established personality. Nevertheless, Albus kept an eagle eye on his employee and tasked Minerva and Severus to do so as well.
Severus had informed him of a few conversations that he had with the other man, with the other making innuendo and uncharacteristic jibes about Severus' past and his loyalty. He wasn't privy to the full interactions, merely the summary, but he knew the boy enough to know that had he any firm evidence of Quirinus being a Death Eater, he'd bring it to his attention at once. That didn't stop him from spouting his beliefs that something had changed from the previous year, he was more spiteful and acrimonious when before he could barely say boo to a mouse (he never understood why one would say boo to a goose - they were terrifying birds in the first place).
So the three of them kept watch on their colleague, which was hard considering they all were in different places of the castle, and neither in close approximation of Quirrell. Little had developed, with only Severus able to confirm suspicions that he had reason for concern, Albus and Minerva having limited contact with him as he seemed to avoid the staff room and sat a far way from them at the Table.
It was slow going, and Albus was reluctantly considering bringing Fawley in to keep an eye. Caleb had the most contact with him as he asked the other man to oversee his absences when he had lessons. But he was apprehensive of the outcome due to Caleb's own alliances which were far too close to Voldemort.
The dreaded phrase entered his mind again as he gazed out at the students; the end justified the means.