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Some questions were answered, others remained open in his mind. The next night Harry sneaked out of Gryffindor’s common room and was determined this time to follow Draco Malfoy. He had his invisibility cloak as well as the map with him, but Draco was fast and harder to spy on. He almost ran when he walked down the hallways, looking around himself constantly. Astoria was more relaxed, more confident, while the blond boy seemed paranoid. |
Just as expected, he was also sneaking out of castle ground, not in the forest but further away to the rocks and shore of Hogwarts where first years were escorted. He stood starring at the sea in silence with his hands in his pant’s pockets. A few minutes pasted in the dark. Two shadows appeared from the air next to him. Snape came late from behind, almost bumped into Harry who was being careless. |
They looked around as the noise of him moving startled them. Another stupid mistake. |
"Are you sure we are alone, Severus?", a woman hissed. She took of her mask. Her black hair introduced her immediately. Sirius had warned him about her – Bellatrix Lestrange. And her face was like a poster for every Death Eater, her horrible expressions that twisted in a hysterical scream on the papers the ministry put out with a title "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE". |
Harry pressed his hand on his mouth to try and push down his breath. It was her who tortured Neville’s parents. Tortured them into madness. |
A sharp light glimmered around from the tip of Snape’s wand. It blinded Harry but he managed to not react to it. |
"Positive", Snape said to her. "We are alone." |
"Must be the wind", another shadow murmured with a low voice, Harry barely caught that. |
Bellatrix’s hand rested on Malfoy’s shoulder. She introduced him as her nephew to the other shadow who still wore a mask. They shook hands. |
"They’ve pushed him in the corner. He has to leave and we will take over the castle from within", Malfoy said. |
"That may not be sufficient", a deep male voice came underneath a silver mask. |
"Resistance?", Bellatrix hissed cruelly. |
"Potter’s friends. They have formed some form of a group, calling themselves an army. A parody, really". |
"Will that be taken care of?", she asked as her eyes stared at him. Her hand caressed his face. |
"It’s not up to me". |
"We will talk with the rest. Take care of the Room of Requirement." |
"What about Dumbledore’s girl?", the masked man looked toward Severus. |
"She seems to be unimportant to him", he answered. |
"As an Elroy, she cannot be unimportant to him. She could also be important to us", the man insisted. |
"Her power is limited. We pushed her too far only to find nothing. Her body is broken now. Even the prospect of having her carry a child seems unlikely." |
"Maybe you could do it if you tried harder, eh, Draco? She will come back to her senses eventually", Bellatrix hissed as her hand caressed Draco’s face again as she added, "You got close the last time". |
"I am told the Dark Lord is against this", Snape said slowly, studying Bellatrix’s face. |
"Her father wants her", the masked man continued as he turned to Draco, "Deliver her to us. And you will be rewarded". |
"I will do my best", Malfoy said, his face was like stone. |
"There is nothing less than the best", Bellatrix said, her voice cutting through him. |
The shadows leapt from the air. Snape told Malfoy to go back to his dorm as he reminded him to be careful. No one was supposed to see them, but Harry did. |
And what Harry saw was Draco Malfoy standing alone in the darkness of the night, crying and wiping away tears. |
Dumbledore grew suspicious every day. They met for tea almost every week, which was unbelievable in comparison to the months they spent apart before. Of course, Astoria wasn’t deceived this came from a sudden realization he missed her, the afternoons they spent together was for the headmaster to interrogate her. And he did often, him and Snape. |
It wasn’t like Moody, well not really him, but he did her a favor anyway. He cracked open her door and she could step in her own mind. It was important now to keep it closed for others. |
"I see you grow stronger with each day, Elroy", Snape said as she came in. |
Such comments were provocation, Astoria knew better than to fall for them. She smiled, tried to look as innocent as possible. Lies came to her easy now. |
"I do try to eat more, thank you. Recovery has been hard". |
"Tell us then, how are you?", Dumbledore asked as she seated herself to face him. |
There were no discussions between them but interrogations and both sides seemed to care little to pretend otherwise. Sweets were laid on the table but no one touched them. Cold tea in both cups. |
"I feel better. School is better, I try to focus on studying more". |
"You seem distant from your peers", Dumbledore said, there was worry in his tone. |
"I’ve always been". |
"Now more than before", Snape added in a low voice, dragging the words as he said them. |
"As I said, recovery hasn’t been easy". |
"Severus, would you be a dear to bring the potion I asked of you now?" |
"Of course", he nodded and left the room. Astoria wondered was there even a potion to bring. |
Good cop is out, she thought to herself as she braced to face him. |
There was only one question that Dumbledore really cared to find an answer to. That was regarding Nicola Elroy. |
"What happened to the person in your mind? I wish to go over this one more time". |
For the hundredth time, Astoria resisted to roll her eyes and said the same thing she always did. |
"It was my imagination. A projection of my insecurities. An alter-ego to torture me. There is no one in my head anymore". |
It was the truth. His consciousness was hers now. Dumbledore kept staring at her. He could tell when someone lied, and she was being honest. That worried him. It was the only pass Astoria had figured. The best lies always had half-truths in them. |
"Your grandfather was like that", he suddenly said as this grabbed her attention and her eye widened in surprise. He caught that immediately. |
"Why do you look surprised? He was my friend. I knew him well, well enough to know when he suddenly changed, later in his adulthood. He distanced himself from me. Loneliness only made him cruel." |
"And strong", she slipped. |
"Yet he died at the end. Defeated. This won’t make you strong. Not in your core. Leaving your friends will only leave you open for attacks", he said calmly. |
"Do you know who killed him?", she asked. |
It wasn’t hard to figure out. She also found it in a paper. Her grandfather Nicola Elroy was considered the most powerful wizard of his time. He was killed in a deadly duel by Albus Dumbledore who later took this "title" to himself. |
You are what you beat, she reminded herself. This made her question everything about the nature of the way he treated her. |
"I know it took many efforts to try and stop him as his heart grew cold. Abandoning his closest lead him to this dark path. I fear for you the same way", Dumbledore said. He had this ability to seem sincere in his care when deep down she knew he wasn’t. |
"I’m doing better, I just need time", Astoria insisted, but Dumbledore ignored her words. |
"You are like my own", he added. |
Something inside of her snapped. It worked. It provoked her. Anger twisted her features as she lowered her gaze. |
"I know you", she spat it out with hatred. "Only half of you cares for me. The other half is restricted to yourself." |
The Headmaster pulled back surprised at her words. They were familiar to him, his eyes widened with the realization then quickly adjusted to the situation, pushing away thoughts to examine in another time, but to manage to keep what he had just found. |
"I do try my best to care for you. You are right, however, I am not the best at it", he said calmly as he relaxed in his chair and took another look at her. |
She was still a child in his eyes. All the warning signs were there, but he ignored them. How could he take her in the first place, knowing who she is? Often, he wondered that and tortured his consciousness with that question, but if it wasn’t him, it would’ve been someone else to find her. And they would’ve been worse to her. |
Dumbledore knew it wasn’t what Nicola would want. He wanted a son. A powerful heir and he gave up everything to have a son. Most of his pureblood lovers, if he could even call these women that, proved infertile or unsuited for that. |
Then finally the son came, late in Nicola’s life, but the boy lived. He named him Ilay. Of all his enemies, Nicola was cruelest to his little boy. After all, it was on Ilay’s shoulders to continue the bloodline, to carry on the magic that cursed their blood. He hoped he would awaken in him the sight, but Ilay never saw red. |
To Dumbledore this was an obsession that took everything from them. Ilay grew up do disappoint his father. A sister came. She was unmagical, yet born into one of the oldest and most powerful families in the magical world. A shame. A punishment for his sins – his weak offspring. That only fueled the hatred in Nicola’s heart that always seemed to be there. |
It was different when Dumbledore found Astoria. A sad little girl, abandoned by chance, yet just a little girl who looked just like him. And he was his friend once. His closest friend. How could he leave her behind, knowing who might find her instead? |
They stood in silence. Time passed through them. Astoria refused to look at him. He always made her feel like that. Talking with him was worse than a punch in the gut. It made her lose control and always ruined her mood. As if he robbed her from her strength. |
"Your father has escaped from Azkaban", Dumbledore finally said, "This is why I’ve called you". |
His sudden words startled her. She turned to him with disbelief. My father, she thought with horror. That was a forbidden word. Dumbledore told her from a very young age he could never be that to her and kept his word. It was "professor" that he found appropriate to be called. But now Astoria had a father, who was very well alive. |
They were all dark wizards – , she physically cringed from it and tried to forget the thought. |
"He will come for you. His name is Ilay Elroy." |
Astoria remained silent, trying to be calm. |
"How powerful is he?" |
"He is not considered an accomplished wizard for the Elroy bloodline. Besides that, he is very powerful and dangerous. He uses an interesting blood technique, extremely deadly". |
"Am I safe here?", she hesitated. |
Umbridge was taking over the school day by day. She knew that and so did Dumbledore, yet he refused to do anything about it. The most powerful wizard alive was losing to bureaucracy. |
"You are as long as I am here. But you need to prepare". |
"And how long is that? You, being here?" |
Dumbledore refused to provide an answer and instead took his cold tea, spinning the cup in his fingers, watching the liquid circle. Astoria’s jaw tightened. She couldn’t tell him about the duels Nicola forced in her mind. This could be a test, an opportunity to slip and she knew the importance of keeping secrets. |
"I can’t fight like before", she lied. |
"You have to begin training again", he said calmly. |
"It wasn’t even the real Alastor Moody that trained me!", she said. That was how the wizarding world had learned about her existence. |
"I’ll train you this time", Dumbledore said calmly. Astoria almost jumped in her chair. |
He terrified her. It was a feeling she couldn’t unlearn. And that’s because it wasn’t hers, she understood as the circumstances of her grandfather’s death became clear to her. It was Nicola’s fear that she had inherited. |
The most powerful wizard alive, she felt her body tremble. How could she fight that? |
"There is nothing to fear", he said to her calmly as he always did. |
"When do we begin?" |
"I will call you", he said. |
This meant the conversation was over. Astoria got up from her seat and continued to walk away. Fear was a strange feeling to her now. It made her dizzy as she managed to shake it off, at least the most of it. That’s how she found it was mostly this specific fear that was left inside of her. |
"Astoria", Dumbledore suddenly said. She didn’t turn but she stopped in time to hear the words that followed. "I do care for you". |
She forced herself to face him. A smile showed up on her face. A genuine one. She only wished he would care more. |
Astoria saw stars. Tears pushed through as self-control slipped away from her. She pushed the heel of her palm to her eye. It hurt but it didn’t stop the tears. A scream was also pushing to come out from her throat, and she could barely hold it in. As she almost tripped and faced the floor, her voice almost broke through. |
The girl’s bathroom. No one was there, not ever. Astoria opened the door and then summoned a locking spell – "Colloportus". Just on time as the click of the lock moved, she let out a loud sob. But that release was temporary and her body quickly froze as her eyes saw a shadow move. |
Between the watery fog in her eyes, she could see a tall figure facing her. The silver hair always gave him away. Draco Malfoy. Astoria quickly brushed away the tears only to see clearly he was also covered in his own tears, face red from crying |
A sharp breath pulled her to her senses. She reached for the door only to find it locked. It was she who locked her and felt like an idiot about it now. |
"Fuck", she muttered as she looked around. He was alone. |
"Just remove the spell and get out", he snapped at her. |
Astoria didn't do that, but stopped to take a better look at him. There was a rumor going around that Harry Potter finally had his revenge and knocked Malfoy of his broomstick during a Quidditch match. Slytherin lost because of it. Astoria cared little about the sport but it always seemed important to him. It was almost a poetic-justice. Could this be it, she found herself wondering. |
"What’s wrong with you?", she whispered as she took in his image. Something was indeed wrong because he looked unput in a way Draco Malfoy never did. The white shirt dirty, sleeves pulled down, all wrinkled as if he struggled in it. His hair was also unusually out of place, falling in pieces so long they reached his eyes and covered them. |
"You’re the last person on earth I wish to see", his voice was ice cold. |
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