mickume/harry_potter_tiny · Datasets at Hugging Face

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The Dark Mark – it all got back to it. They had found him as a boy and decided to use him. Draco Malfoy was someone who could help them take the school from the inside. Maybe not just him but other Slytherin students. Kids, she told herself in fear, remembering her interactions with Theo and Pansy. And Astoria was one of them that ultimately made her someone they wanted. They could use her against Dumbledore or they could force her to join them like they did with Draco. Different scenarios played in her mind but all ended bad for her. There was no escape.
Draco tried to keep his distance but was failing. She’d catch him staring. Sometimes he would come and talk with her. Nothing of great importance but it meant the world hearing his voice. Watching him in his school uniform. Pretending everything is normal. It was sacred to her.
Harry refused to look at her. It was a big fallout. Astoria didn’t care. She woke up and her mind was made up. When class ended she walked through the hallways next to the Gryffindors at the Quidditch field.
All eyes were drown to her as Astoria stood out like a sore spot in green among them. Someone said something behind her back, shouted obscenities. She ignored him.
The first to notice her was Ron Weasely who pushed an elbow into Harry so he’d turn his head. Just as their eyes met in a glimpse of a second, Ginny got up from the benches and crossed her path.
"I think you should leave", she said to her in a firm voice.
Astoria liked how brave Ginny was. When she weighted her down with a look it was clear the witch was more than a pretty thing too look at. Ginny was athletic and had a fire inside of her, fire in her hair as well. The true image of a Gryffindor. Unfortunately, that meant little in front of an Elroy. Astoria took her eyepatch and looked at Ginny who gasped with horror, meeting her red eye. They all knew what it meant, as he had the same eyes.
"Harry, I need to talk to you", Astoria announced. Everyone went silent.
Harry peaked behind Ginny’s shoulder. His green eyes quickly looked away from her. He looked shut out from her, crossing one of his arm, holding the other with it. Like a closed door.
"Maybe not after last night", he said quietly, refusing to look at her again.
"This isn’t about your feelings or mines", Astoria insisted. "If I was ever a friend of yours, you will come and listen to me".
He turned to look at her. Astoria now seemed terrifying, one of her eyes red with rage, the other a familiar brown. She changed every day and it always shocked him how much different they were becoming. But they used to be friends. They used to laugh in the dark and whisper as they made fun of Lockhart. That’s how it all began. Astoria helped them save Hermione, helped them get into Slytherin’s common room. She was his friend and Harry couldn’t ignore her call.
He stepped forward. Ron looked at him with disapproval. Astoria turned sharply on her heel and walked off with a quick step as he followed behind.
They strayed from the hallways. She dragged him in the forest. It was near to the place he found her unconscious on the ground. That was the last time he found her vulnerable. Now everything about her was sharp. He felt uneasy alone with her.
"What’s wrong?", Harry said a bit too quick. Better to get it done.
Astoria finally turned to him her face now less frozen and more readable, more human with a sort of worry over it. The wind blew her hair and it distracted him. It was always long, she never cut it. Harry used to wonder about it and as his thought began to wonder astray she quickly pulled him back with the panic in her voice.
"I need a favor from you. It is the only thing I will ever ask of you and I don’t care if you don’t want to speak to me after it, but please do this for me".
"What is it?", he hesitated. It all seemed unusual for her.
"My father is coming for me", she said and it felt final, absolute like a sentence with no parole. "I ask for your help to ambush the attack, so it gives me a chance to survive it."
"Your father?", he repeated with surprise. It was a lot to take in, she knew.
"My father, Ilay Elroy, who escaped Azkaban and served under Voldemort’s mark. My father, who Crouch said helped Voldemort in the killing of your parents. That’s who my father Is and he is coming for me, determined to take me. I don’t know if he would prefer me dead or alive."
So it’s true, Harry realized bitterly, this was the legacy of her family. The worst part was that they worked with Voldemort, a dark wizard wishing his death and coming to claim it. There was only one man, one wizard, Harry thought about that could solve this situation.
"Have you told Dumbledore?".
"No, I can’t tell him".
"Why?", Harry looked at her with suspicion.
"Because he will know how I found out and they will kill him, Harry".
Draco Malfoy, he realized, as this confirmed his biggest suspicion. He was a Death Eater and Astoria knew about it. She knew and she chose to be with him. She knew and she stayed. That left the possibility of betrayal. Maybe it was a setup to get close to him? Maybe Draco really loved her enough to risk his life for her?
The silence was quickly overturned by anger.
"How can I risk my life and the life of my friends on Malfoy’s word?"
"It’s me who’s asking you, not him".
They stared in silence. Astoria didn’t flinch. Her stare made him uncomfortable. There was so much to consider, mostly how could they do it without Dumbledore’s help.
"I’ll have to talk to the order", Harry finally said and quickly looked away. He knew there was no need to explain, Astoria read it – saw it – in his mind.
Her hand grabbed his as she pulled him back to herself.
"It must be discreet. And I’ll try to take as much as possible. Can you say yes?"
"Yes, I will help you", he sighed.
"This isn’t everything. Hogwarts’s not safe. Do you have any idea where I can go?".
He refused to answer for a while. The first part was true, Hogwarts wasn’t safe anymore as Umbridge infiltrated it and conquered it, one step at a time the school was falling under the control of the ministry. And Harry already knew who was infiltrating the ministry.
If Astoria was still his friend, which his heart seemed to believe, Harry would do everything for the safety of his friends. But this wasn’t just about her. It was about Sirius and Lupin and Tonks and Ron’s family. Their safety was also a priority to him and this would only mean another risk to take. The worst part, that he would admit to himself bitterly, was that Astoria Elroy was a liability to him. She was a pureblood from a powerful and dark family, a Slytherin and Draco Malfoy’s lover. How could he bet on her with so much at risk?
"I think I know a place.", Harry said distracted. "I’ll talk with Sirius. You know him from my mind."
It was something he kept as a secret from her for years. Someone that important. Astoria sighed when she heard his name. It made her tired, everything about Harry felt hard and forced and complicated. Yet it was the need that bounded them together.
"And please don’t tell Dumbledore. I know he won’t hurt him but if they suspected him in cooperation, they will torture him and kill him for it", she said as desperation cracked her voice.
"You love him", Harry observed almost sadly. "Despite knowing he’s a Death Eater?"
"I do", she said back to him. "I couldn’t help it".
"I don’t understand it", he shook his head. It made perfect sense to Hermione and Ron, it seemed to excite, rather than scandalize everyone in Slytherin, and the whole school seemingly didn’t mind them, but Harry could not understand it. It made no sense to him how they were together and in love.
"I don’t ask that of you. Just tell me will you help me with my father?"
"I said I will always help you and I meant it. If it needs to be discrete, I’ll know to who to turn. Do you have any other useful information so we could prepare in some way?"
"Yes, it will be Wednesday, on that field you found me once in the forest. I asked that of Draco as bait. Better they come and we expect them, then the opposite. Bellatrix Lestrange will be there with my father. Possibly another Death Eater as well".
Harry’s eyes went wide with surprise. That was a lot of information. Bellatrix Lestrange was also a high ranking Death Eater, Sirius shared once. And more over, Draco’s aunt, yet he gave it all up.
"Let’s say we win. We get you away safe. What happens then?"
"I don’t imagine that will be the case", Astoria confessed to him as she looked straight into his eyes, "My father will win".
"You shouldn’t give up that easy", Harry said as he came towards her.
This is when he finally saw through it. There was no real rage in her, only fear that made her sharp and mad in her actions. And Astoria was afraid, terrified of what was coming for her. He didn’t say it but it made him softer. This Harry understood, he felt the same.
"I won’t go down easy", she said firmly as her fingers twisted in fists.
"What happens after we win, Tori?", it was a calming smile. He was always charming like that. "Because we will."
A careless naiveness that comes to him in the worst of times, Astoria thought to herself as she found herself smiling stupidly with him. Nostalgia got the better of them both.
"You take me somewhere safe and I stay there. I know I will be better if I manage to reach my full potential. I will go into another comma, work with Nicola".
"Full potential?", Harry repeated, confused of what he was hearing.
"Yes, I never confessed to you", Astoria replied sounding somehow distracted. "I just thought it was obvious as you saw Nicola and you saw me every day, saw the change – "
"What are you implying?"
"I’m not the wrong generation, Harry. I’m the right one. I’m the right person. I have my family’s genetic potential; in fact, it was all for me to be here. I’m my family’s hair, I’m an accomplished witch".
"What does that exactly mean?", he blinked back, this was some pureblood drama he never seemed to understand, being raised in the muggle world.
"It means my father, my aunt and her son are not direct heirs to my family’s name, money or power. There is only one Elroy. There is only me and no one else", Astoria said firmly.
"What about Nicola, what does he have to do with that?"
"Nicola helped me in the coma – "
"The coma?", Harry repeated more to himself as pieces fell In their place. Hermione mostly read and then told him what she learned. Accomplished wizard of the Elroy bloodline meant an unstoppable dark wizard, another Dark Lord.
"I did it, because I was weak and I needed to grow strong faster. I’m going to do it again if you give me a safe space and we escape with our lives – "
"That’s too dangerous", Harry shook his head in disagreement, interrupting her chain of thoughts again. "Last time it took you too much time to get back and then double the time to recover".
It was true. Astoria just hadn’t figure another way. Her full potential meant reaching the highest point of pain, Nicola had told her. It was a sacrificial pain. She had to give something to become an accomplished which. There were a lot of options about it, judging by her previous lives. Killing and dying in all of them.
"Then I will train and scream at the sky until it hurts so bad I get to see red with my other eye and I know I stand a chance to make a difference in this war", she said angrily.
Harry swallowed his words. This was complicated. Having her in the order was something he knew would divide the other members. It was out of question. And that only brought up the other issue – if they save her, where will they keep her and for how long? As a friend or as a foe?
"I’m sure if we manage to get you out alive, Dumbledore will help out then".
"I hope. Draco still must stay out of it."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I’m going to learn to kill", she said as her voice cut through him.
Dumbledore welcomed the idea of training with her more often. It was unique to discover he also developed a unique technique with his magic, still involving the use of his wand but the movements were unpredictable and he also heavily relied on his mind. It was a battle of wills but he still managed to make her body hurt so bad from injuries, Astoria collapsed two of those days she trained with him and woke up in the nursery at Hogwarts.
There was a sharpness to Albus Dumbledore as well and the way he cut through attacks was merciless. Astoria faced them each with horror, knowing this is how he managed to defeat her.
Like previous days, Astoria found herself on the ground, gasping for air as he stood untouched next to her. His wand pointing always to her, ready to strike again or counter an attack. Made surprise moves almost impossible. Every move she tried to make, he met and he destroyed her attack before she even managed to begin it. Even worse, he was like an encyclopedia of spells and magic but all that knowledge came with raw strength and an undeniably developed magical talent. Facing him was tiring but she had to endure, to try to learn.
It would be no different facing her father.
"You hold back", Dumbledore said to her unimpressed as he watched her struggle on the ground. It was true, she refused to show him her full potential out of fear he could kill her. Nicola Elroy told her so.
"I am going to collapse", Astoria said between breaths.
"Disappointing, considering this is just the beginning", Dumbledore sounded distracted as he didn’t even bother to acknowledge her struggle, "Nicola had better stamina and physical strength. You lack those".
"I thought I was weaker because I’m a girl".
"That could be, but I find the source of your weakness to be your own lack of confidence and carelessness, not your gender".
It was always like that, she thought bitterly. Talking to him felt as being interrogated and when he didn’t find someone interesting enough to dissect with questions, he would insult her and look down on her. Astoria hated him for it. And anger helped.
A stream of light leapt from her fingers and moved in second. Dumbledore met it and instantly broke the connection as it faded away next to him, but it still got his attention.
"You are faster than him".
"You keep comparing me to him as if it’s supposed to mean something to me!", she shouted and fell on her knees as fatigue took over after the spell.
Dumbledore looked at her with curiosity as he got nearer. He put aside his wand and stretched his hand forward. Astoria grabbed it to rise to her feet. At least he gave her time to rest, unlike Barty Crouch Jr.
"You still haven’t accepted who you really are", he said in a way almost sad, "That’s your problem."
"I know who I am", Astoria answered firmly. Lies did come easy.
"I never expected to meet you again, to find you and raise you. Perhaps that’s why you run from it, because of me".
Astoria’s body reacted before her and two fingers stretched in the air, pointing at him. Her eyes were sharp and afraid. He was telling her but she didn’t want to hear it. There was a fear in her that she knew wasn’t hers. And when she fought him she held back twice. Once – of fear to be discovered and again – of fear of dying.
"Every blessing is a curse the same way every curse is a blessing", he continued speaking to her as if he wasn’t seeing her, "You once told me so".
Only she didn’t. But she knew those words. Nicola would often tell them to her when she would collapse with hate and desperation, trying to escape in her mind. And when Albus Dumbledore turned to look at her with emptiness in her eyes Astoria held her breath as lightning fell from the sky.
"Go on then", she said softly, "Kill me like you killed him".
Her hand swept away her eyepatch from her face as she stared at him with hatred in her eyes. He didn’t look surprised to see her red eye but studied it with precision. There was no anger in him to her surprise. Dumbledore stood in silance, gathering his thoughts. The anticipation made her furious as she could feel electricity pushing inside of her to come out from the tips of her fingers. A clean strike.
"I’m not going to kill you, Elroy. There is nothing to fear".
The way he pronounced her name echoed in her mind like a familiar lullaby. There was softness in his voice. Astoria felt her stomach untwist like something spilled inside of her. Fear took over her.
"What if I turn like him? What if I grow evil in your eyes or whatever your selfish judgment of him was? Would you kill me then!?", her voice loud as her throat bled with pain.
It was a cruel joke and no laughter was left in him, not even a smile. Sadness was a calm wave that deceived men into drowning and he had been swimming too deep after Nicola’s death. If Albus Dumbledore had to confess, he would admit he never got over that ugly fight. Scars still bled from that night, especially from the darkness it left on the tips of his left hand. Decay. Corruption from dark magic, he knew the signs but Dumbledore still thought of it as cruel irony and not a punishment. It was the same hand that clenched to the dying body of Nicola Elroy when he touched him for the last time.

The Dark Mark – it all got back to it. They had found him as a boy and decided to use him. Draco Malfoy was someone who could help them take the school from the inside. Maybe not just him but other Slytherin students. Kids, she told herself in fear, remembering her interactions with Theo and Pansy. And Astoria was one of them that ultimately made her someone they wanted. They could use her against Dumbledore or they could force her to join them like they did with Draco. Different scenarios played in her mind but all ended bad for her. There was no escape.

Draco tried to keep his distance but was failing. She’d catch him staring. Sometimes he would come and talk with her. Nothing of great importance but it meant the world hearing his voice. Watching him in his school uniform. Pretending everything is normal. It was sacred to her.

Harry refused to look at her. It was a big fallout. Astoria didn’t care. She woke up and her mind was made up. When class ended she walked through the hallways next to the Gryffindors at the Quidditch field.

All eyes were drown to her as Astoria stood out like a sore spot in green among them. Someone said something behind her back, shouted obscenities. She ignored him.

The first to notice her was Ron Weasely who pushed an elbow into Harry so he’d turn his head. Just as their eyes met in a glimpse of a second, Ginny got up from the benches and crossed her path.

"I think you should leave", she said to her in a firm voice.

Astoria liked how brave Ginny was. When she weighted her down with a look it was clear the witch was more than a pretty thing too look at. Ginny was athletic and had a fire inside of her, fire in her hair as well. The true image of a Gryffindor. Unfortunately, that meant little in front of an Elroy. Astoria took her eyepatch and looked at Ginny who gasped with horror, meeting her red eye. They all knew what it meant, as he had the same eyes.

"Harry, I need to talk to you", Astoria announced. Everyone went silent.

Harry peaked behind Ginny’s shoulder. His green eyes quickly looked away from her. He looked shut out from her, crossing one of his arm, holding the other with it. Like a closed door.

"Maybe not after last night", he said quietly, refusing to look at her again.

"This isn’t about your feelings or mines", Astoria insisted. "If I was ever a friend of yours, you will come and listen to me".

He turned to look at her. Astoria now seemed terrifying, one of her eyes red with rage, the other a familiar brown. She changed every day and it always shocked him how much different they were becoming. But they used to be friends. They used to laugh in the dark and whisper as they made fun of Lockhart. That’s how it all began. Astoria helped them save Hermione, helped them get into Slytherin’s common room. She was his friend and Harry couldn’t ignore her call.

He stepped forward. Ron looked at him with disapproval. Astoria turned sharply on her heel and walked off with a quick step as he followed behind.

They strayed from the hallways. She dragged him in the forest. It was near to the place he found her unconscious on the ground. That was the last time he found her vulnerable. Now everything about her was sharp. He felt uneasy alone with her.

"What’s wrong?", Harry said a bit too quick. Better to get it done.

Astoria finally turned to him her face now less frozen and more readable, more human with a sort of worry over it. The wind blew her hair and it distracted him. It was always long, she never cut it. Harry used to wonder about it and as his thought began to wonder astray she quickly pulled him back with the panic in her voice.

"I need a favor from you. It is the only thing I will ever ask of you and I don’t care if you don’t want to speak to me after it, but please do this for me".

"What is it?", he hesitated. It all seemed unusual for her.

"My father is coming for me", she said and it felt final, absolute like a sentence with no parole. "I ask for your help to ambush the attack, so it gives me a chance to survive it."

"Your father?", he repeated with surprise. It was a lot to take in, she knew.

"My father, Ilay Elroy, who escaped Azkaban and served under Voldemort’s mark. My father, who Crouch said helped Voldemort in the killing of your parents. That’s who my father Is and he is coming for me, determined to take me. I don’t know if he would prefer me dead or alive."

So it’s true, Harry realized bitterly, this was the legacy of her family. The worst part was that they worked with Voldemort, a dark wizard wishing his death and coming to claim it. There was only one man, one wizard, Harry thought about that could solve this situation.

"Have you told Dumbledore?".

"No, I can’t tell him".

"Why?", Harry looked at her with suspicion.

"Because he will know how I found out and they will kill him, Harry".

Draco Malfoy, he realized, as this confirmed his biggest suspicion. He was a Death Eater and Astoria knew about it. She knew and she chose to be with him. She knew and she stayed. That left the possibility of betrayal. Maybe it was a setup to get close to him? Maybe Draco really loved her enough to risk his life for her?

The silence was quickly overturned by anger.

"How can I risk my life and the life of my friends on Malfoy’s word?"

"It’s me who’s asking you, not him".

They stared in silence. Astoria didn’t flinch. Her stare made him uncomfortable. There was so much to consider, mostly how could they do it without Dumbledore’s help.

"I’ll have to talk to the order", Harry finally said and quickly looked away. He knew there was no need to explain, Astoria read it – saw it – in his mind.

Her hand grabbed his as she pulled him back to herself.

"It must be discreet. And I’ll try to take as much as possible. Can you say yes?"

"Yes, I will help you", he sighed.

"This isn’t everything. Hogwarts’s not safe. Do you have any idea where I can go?".

He refused to answer for a while. The first part was true, Hogwarts wasn’t safe anymore as Umbridge infiltrated it and conquered it, one step at a time the school was falling under the control of the ministry. And Harry already knew who was infiltrating the ministry.

If Astoria was still his friend, which his heart seemed to believe, Harry would do everything for the safety of his friends. But this wasn’t just about her. It was about Sirius and Lupin and Tonks and Ron’s family. Their safety was also a priority to him and this would only mean another risk to take. The worst part, that he would admit to himself bitterly, was that Astoria Elroy was a liability to him. She was a pureblood from a powerful and dark family, a Slytherin and Draco Malfoy’s lover. How could he bet on her with so much at risk?

"I think I know a place.", Harry said distracted. "I’ll talk with Sirius. You know him from my mind."

It was something he kept as a secret from her for years. Someone that important. Astoria sighed when she heard his name. It made her tired, everything about Harry felt hard and forced and complicated. Yet it was the need that bounded them together.

"And please don’t tell Dumbledore. I know he won’t hurt him but if they suspected him in cooperation, they will torture him and kill him for it", she said as desperation cracked her voice.

"You love him", Harry observed almost sadly. "Despite knowing he’s a Death Eater?"

"I do", she said back to him. "I couldn’t help it".

"I don’t understand it", he shook his head. It made perfect sense to Hermione and Ron, it seemed to excite, rather than scandalize everyone in Slytherin, and the whole school seemingly didn’t mind them, but Harry could not understand it. It made no sense to him how they were together and in love.

"I don’t ask that of you. Just tell me will you help me with my father?"

"I said I will always help you and I meant it. If it needs to be discrete, I’ll know to who to turn. Do you have any other useful information so we could prepare in some way?"

"Yes, it will be Wednesday, on that field you found me once in the forest. I asked that of Draco as bait. Better they come and we expect them, then the opposite. Bellatrix Lestrange will be there with my father. Possibly another Death Eater as well".

Harry’s eyes went wide with surprise. That was a lot of information. Bellatrix Lestrange was also a high ranking Death Eater, Sirius shared once. And more over, Draco’s aunt, yet he gave it all up.

"Let’s say we win. We get you away safe. What happens then?"

"I don’t imagine that will be the case", Astoria confessed to him as she looked straight into his eyes, "My father will win".

"You shouldn’t give up that easy", Harry said as he came towards her.

This is when he finally saw through it. There was no real rage in her, only fear that made her sharp and mad in her actions. And Astoria was afraid, terrified of what was coming for her. He didn’t say it but it made him softer. This Harry understood, he felt the same.

"I won’t go down easy", she said firmly as her fingers twisted in fists.

"What happens after we win, Tori?", it was a calming smile. He was always charming like that. "Because we will."

A careless naiveness that comes to him in the worst of times, Astoria thought to herself as she found herself smiling stupidly with him. Nostalgia got the better of them both.

"You take me somewhere safe and I stay there. I know I will be better if I manage to reach my full potential. I will go into another comma, work with Nicola".

"Full potential?", Harry repeated, confused of what he was hearing.

"Yes, I never confessed to you", Astoria replied sounding somehow distracted. "I just thought it was obvious as you saw Nicola and you saw me every day, saw the change – "

"What are you implying?"

"I’m not the wrong generation, Harry. I’m the right one. I’m the right person. I have my family’s genetic potential; in fact, it was all for me to be here. I’m my family’s hair, I’m an accomplished witch".

"What does that exactly mean?", he blinked back, this was some pureblood drama he never seemed to understand, being raised in the muggle world.

"It means my father, my aunt and her son are not direct heirs to my family’s name, money or power. There is only one Elroy. There is only me and no one else", Astoria said firmly.

"What about Nicola, what does he have to do with that?"

"Nicola helped me in the coma – "

"The coma?", Harry repeated more to himself as pieces fell In their place. Hermione mostly read and then told him what she learned. Accomplished wizard of the Elroy bloodline meant an unstoppable dark wizard, another Dark Lord.

"I did it, because I was weak and I needed to grow strong faster. I’m going to do it again if you give me a safe space and we escape with our lives – "

"That’s too dangerous", Harry shook his head in disagreement, interrupting her chain of thoughts again. "Last time it took you too much time to get back and then double the time to recover".

It was true. Astoria just hadn’t figure another way. Her full potential meant reaching the highest point of pain, Nicola had told her. It was a sacrificial pain. She had to give something to become an accomplished which. There were a lot of options about it, judging by her previous lives. Killing and dying in all of them.

"Then I will train and scream at the sky until it hurts so bad I get to see red with my other eye and I know I stand a chance to make a difference in this war", she said angrily.

Harry swallowed his words. This was complicated. Having her in the order was something he knew would divide the other members. It was out of question. And that only brought up the other issue – if they save her, where will they keep her and for how long? As a friend or as a foe?

"I’m sure if we manage to get you out alive, Dumbledore will help out then".

"I hope. Draco still must stay out of it."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I’m going to learn to kill", she said as her voice cut through him.

Dumbledore welcomed the idea of training with her more often. It was unique to discover he also developed a unique technique with his magic, still involving the use of his wand but the movements were unpredictable and he also heavily relied on his mind. It was a battle of wills but he still managed to make her body hurt so bad from injuries, Astoria collapsed two of those days she trained with him and woke up in the nursery at Hogwarts.

There was a sharpness to Albus Dumbledore as well and the way he cut through attacks was merciless. Astoria faced them each with horror, knowing this is how he managed to defeat her.

Like previous days, Astoria found herself on the ground, gasping for air as he stood untouched next to her. His wand pointing always to her, ready to strike again or counter an attack. Made surprise moves almost impossible. Every move she tried to make, he met and he destroyed her attack before she even managed to begin it. Even worse, he was like an encyclopedia of spells and magic but all that knowledge came with raw strength and an undeniably developed magical talent. Facing him was tiring but she had to endure, to try to learn.

It would be no different facing her father.

"You hold back", Dumbledore said to her unimpressed as he watched her struggle on the ground. It was true, she refused to show him her full potential out of fear he could kill her. Nicola Elroy told her so.

"I am going to collapse", Astoria said between breaths.

"Disappointing, considering this is just the beginning", Dumbledore sounded distracted as he didn’t even bother to acknowledge her struggle, "Nicola had better stamina and physical strength. You lack those".

"I thought I was weaker because I’m a girl".

"That could be, but I find the source of your weakness to be your own lack of confidence and carelessness, not your gender".

It was always like that, she thought bitterly. Talking to him felt as being interrogated and when he didn’t find someone interesting enough to dissect with questions, he would insult her and look down on her. Astoria hated him for it. And anger helped.

A stream of light leapt from her fingers and moved in second. Dumbledore met it and instantly broke the connection as it faded away next to him, but it still got his attention.

"You are faster than him".

"You keep comparing me to him as if it’s supposed to mean something to me!", she shouted and fell on her knees as fatigue took over after the spell.

Dumbledore looked at her with curiosity as he got nearer. He put aside his wand and stretched his hand forward. Astoria grabbed it to rise to her feet. At least he gave her time to rest, unlike Barty Crouch Jr.

"You still haven’t accepted who you really are", he said in a way almost sad, "That’s your problem."

"I know who I am", Astoria answered firmly. Lies did come easy.

"I never expected to meet you again, to find you and raise you. Perhaps that’s why you run from it, because of me".

Astoria’s body reacted before her and two fingers stretched in the air, pointing at him. Her eyes were sharp and afraid. He was telling her but she didn’t want to hear it. There was a fear in her that she knew wasn’t hers. And when she fought him she held back twice. Once – of fear to be discovered and again – of fear of dying.

"Every blessing is a curse the same way every curse is a blessing", he continued speaking to her as if he wasn’t seeing her, "You once told me so".

Only she didn’t. But she knew those words. Nicola would often tell them to her when she would collapse with hate and desperation, trying to escape in her mind. And when Albus Dumbledore turned to look at her with emptiness in her eyes Astoria held her breath as lightning fell from the sky.

"Go on then", she said softly, "Kill me like you killed him".

Her hand swept away her eyepatch from her face as she stared at him with hatred in her eyes. He didn’t look surprised to see her red eye but studied it with precision. There was no anger in him to her surprise. Dumbledore stood in silance, gathering his thoughts. The anticipation made her furious as she could feel electricity pushing inside of her to come out from the tips of her fingers. A clean strike.

"I’m not going to kill you, Elroy. There is nothing to fear".

The way he pronounced her name echoed in her mind like a familiar lullaby. There was softness in his voice. Astoria felt her stomach untwist like something spilled inside of her. Fear took over her.

"What if I turn like him? What if I grow evil in your eyes or whatever your selfish judgment of him was? Would you kill me then!?", her voice loud as her throat bled with pain.

It was a cruel joke and no laughter was left in him, not even a smile. Sadness was a calm wave that deceived men into drowning and he had been swimming too deep after Nicola’s death. If Albus Dumbledore had to confess, he would admit he never got over that ugly fight. Scars still bled from that night, especially from the darkness it left on the tips of his left hand. Decay. Corruption from dark magic, he knew the signs but Dumbledore still thought of it as cruel irony and not a punishment. It was the same hand that clenched to the dying body of Nicola Elroy when he touched him for the last time.