they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 4 - 48

SMACK!

A very off-note violin screech.

Laughter.

Astrid's hand flew to her head, rubbing the place she had just been hit in with the small plastic ball. Ever so slowly she turned her head to look at the two, Tracey and Rosier, as they rolled on Rosier's bed in uncontrollable laughter.

Astrid didn't find it funny. The other two were having the time of their life, nearly out of breath.

Tracey and Rosier had decided to collaborate on this seemingly useless gadget. Once hitting somebody's head it would emit a defeated violin screech (recorder by Tracey) and then make stars go around the target's head (Rosier's work). Astrid was, as always, the one on which all experiments got tried out on.

"I liked you better when you both just read," Astrid grumbled, turning away from the two, still rubbing the painful spot on the top of her head.

The girl looked out the window, into the Dark Lake and returned to her previous state of a thoughtful trance.

Time kept passing and Astrid still couldn't figure out a thing about her father. The girl had asked Daphne, who unsurprisingly knew nothing either. Malfoy was also obviously unaware of as well as Astrid was sure the boy would've come boasting that he knew more than she did. And another begging letter to her mother had only been replied to with a 'no. but we would love to hear how you have been doing.' To which Astrid had ripped off a corner of the same letter and instantly sent back a 'no.' Which had inevitably ended her whole exchange with her parents.

Astrid was short on ideas as to how to get the information she craved.

The girls best attribute had always been her small-lies and convincing people with words. The only problem was that she couldn't figure out when and how to use them.

Racking her brain Astrid thought of all the moments she had grasped the smallest bits of information. That had been when her father was either annoyed, or meeting some of his old acquaintances. The most bit of information she had received was when her father had talked to Malfoy's one on one. And it appeared only then were the two almost fully open about their conflict. If they had been just the two of them, they would've surely talked or more like fought it all out.

And then, similarly to the small object just moments before, she was hit with a realisation. Only this time it wasn't stars circling her head, but a lightbulb lighting up at the top of it.

Astrid was going to write a letter to Lucius Malfoy BUT as if it had been written by Eric Ninomae himself.

* * *

"You did what?"

"Yes, Daph, I wrote a letter to Lucius Malfoy and now I'm going to find out everything!"

The two girls were slowly strolling their way to Hogsmead, having just barely left the school grounds. There were many students walking with them, as they all had been released form the school concurrently, so Astrid kept her voice hushed.

"Why do you think that would work?"

"Because I'm telling you, he thinks it's from dad. I can bet you 10 galleons the letter is going to come back and he will be screaming profanities at my father telling me all I've wished to find out."

"Ash-"

"Come on, Daph, you of all people should understand the subtle art of manipulative lying."

"But Mr Malfoy is not a fool."

"Neither am I. I put quite the thought into this. It's not like I just wrote," Astrid changed her voice to an exaggerated high-pitched one, "Hi, I'm Eric. I hate you. Now remind me what we've been arguing about." Astrid rolled her eyes and changed her voice back to normal. "I read over my father's letters, copied the way he speaks and chose my words accordingly. Heck, Daph, you remember that I got on the Quidditch team right, I have my way of convincing snobbish sexist lads."