Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"lost again with no surprises"

Theo was the first. His father sent him a letter only two days after the breakout asking for him to meet. Theo obviously said no, but the turmoil that followed still followed.

Barely anybody spoke to the Slytherin students and the Slytherin students barely spoke among themselves. Astoria felt that more than most. Even Daphne struggled to speak to her and as for the others, they were too caught up worrying and wondering if and when they would be contacted.

Only one day after Theo's letter, both Pansy and Blaise received similar news and at once, McGonagall called an emergency meeting with all the students.

"Please, everyone take your seats," she looked down at all the students, "I have important information to share with you." McGonagall took a deep breath, "over the past few days, the Daily Prophet has published several articles relating to the to escape of Death Eaters from Azkaban." Before she could say any more, students broke out in sobs and cries as they looked over at the Slytherin table.

"It's their fault," Astoria heard several student's mutter.

"Settle down please students." McGonagall raised her hands to the students, "please. Now, this is something that it important you are all aware of as there will be some changes happening at Hogwarts. Most importantly, there will be Dementors-"

And if Astoria had thought it got loud earlier, things got so much worse. Students were crying out and Astoria felt her heart sink. She was terrified at the thought of those monsters being allowed in or around Hogwarts.

"I-"

Daphne took her hand, "it will be okay."

But Astoria couldn't be so sure it would. She had encountered Dementors once before and that once was enough. It been just after the final battle at Hogwarts, and she had just been able to settle back into home with Daphne.

Her father had turned up, out of the blue to visit her and Daphne, likely whilst on the run and with him, the Dementors had come. It wasn't just one, or two, it was a swarm. Astoria had looked out the window, and suddenly the sunny cloud was pure black, and through the open window, they arrived.

And then it went cold.

"Hey," Daphne shook her hand, "it's okay," she squeezed.

McGonagall cleared her throat, "as I was saying, Dementors will be patrolling the outside of the grounds, they shall not be permitted onto the grounds themselves. This is for your own safety; they shall not interfere with your life at Hogwarts. I wish for everything to remain as normal as possible, please return to your normal academic lives, but live them with caution!"

"I would also like to ask that you please stay inside the castle unless vital for any reason. The Dementors have been asked to remain off of the grounds, however, should they stray then you will be far safer inside of the castle. Should you have any questions, please direct them to the Prefects. Now stay safe please students." She rose her hands, the students rising with them, before making her way out of the Great Hall through the back entrance.

Astoria rose from her seat, "we should get going,"

"Yeah, let's go back to the common room and do something, we need to stay busy."

Once most of the students were out of the hall, Astoria finally began to make her way out, with Daphne and her friends following close behind her.

"Wait," Astoria turned when she felt a hand on her, "I wanted to talk to you." Hermione smiled politely at her, this time without Ginny pulling her away.

She dropped her sister's hand, "you guys can go back, I'll meet you all at the common room.

"Wait, no." Hermione interjected, "I wanted to talk to all of you, it's important."

"What do you want Granger?"

"I wanted to help you," she looked at them, "all of you. You heard McGonagall about how there are going to be Dementors patrolling the grounds. And I know they'll probably be paying closer attention to you because it's your parents."

"We know." Pansy rolled her eyes, "get to the point, you're just insulting me at this point."

Hermione's lip quivered, "I know that I-, let me continue. I wanted to teach you all how to do a Patronus charm."

"And what makes you think we can't do one already?" Theo raised his brows at her, watching as she quivered.

"Well, I-I just..."

"I can't do one." Astoria admitted. She longed to be able to do one, not just for her own sake, but for the sake of those around her. To see the magical silver sparkle jumping out from her wand was one of the only things she wanted.

"I could teach you Astoria, I would be more than happy to."

But before Astoria could answer her, Daphne pulled her away.

"We aren't interested Granger," Pansy led the group away from Hermione with a smirk. Somehow, the divide between the houses was back again and Astoria was no longer fond of it. "I can't believe her! She exclaimed once she entered the common room, "we're doing just fine without her trying to teach us how to cast a Patronus."

"I think I would have liked to learn how to," Theo added quietly.

"Well, we don't need to know how to."

"Bloody Gryffindors," Blaise shook his head.

"What's everyone going to do for Christmas?" Astoria smiled at the group, wishing for nothing more than the conversation to steer away from its current course.

"Well, we haven't really got homes to go back to, have we?" Daphne pointed out, "it wouldn't really be safe for us to go back, would it?" She looked around for approval.

"I'm going back." Draco looked up, "I don't want my mother to be alone."

Astoria had almost forgotten about Narcissa, how she had been pardoned by the Ministry after a testimony from none other than Harry Potter, how he had been the one to ensure Draco still had a mother after the war. "That's a good idea." She glanced at Draco before turning to look at Pansy, Blaise and Draco, "is everyone else staying here then?"

Everyone around her nodded in agreement. "Yes."

"I am."

"Me too."

"What are we going to do for Christmas?" Blaise turned to face Pansy, "I haven't ever stayed at the castle over Christmas before."

Astoria had barely had time to think about Christmas. First, she had been worried about schoolwork, then her father had broken out, and then the Dementors had taken over Hogwarts. She had never spent a Christmas at Hogwarts and had never even had the chance to think about what it would entail.

"We'll make it good; we deserve a good Christmas, we all do."

"We might need some rules," Daphne began.

Pansy tilted her head, "rules? Why would we need rules for Christmas?"

"I mean, perhaps we ought to ban conversation of our parents?" Astoria suggested, earning a few nods from the Slytherins.

"I have to agree with that." Blaise added, "no opening letters from them either. Anything we get from the Owlery goes straight to Professor McGonagall. Agreed?"

"Yes."

Astoria nodded. "Anything else that needs mentioning?"

"We have to make it a good Christmas."

"No distractions." Pansy said, "no parents, no lying about parents either. If you get a letter, you tell us,"She glanced over at Blaise, "we can't keep secrets between us. If we do, none of this ever ends."

"No secrets," Daphne repeated.

"No secrets." Astoria agreed, "secrets push people apart, and we need to stick together, especially now."