they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 5 - 74

Her scars had gotten terribly itchy.

Nearly a month had passed and they showed no signs of going away.

Astrid was faintly aware the words remained on her hand all irritated and bloody because of the fact she kept scratching at them. But the knowledge couldn't hold her back from continuously sneaking her polished fingers under the white bandage. Though sometimes she liked to blame the consistently reopening wounds on that her skin was now laced with some dark magic. She had never liked blaming herself.

It hurt a bit less than before, but despite that, the girl kept refusing to ask for help, her reasoning being that if the hand hadn't fallen off at this point, then it was still alright. She had never fancied appearing physically weak. Especially now that she had secured her spot on the quidditch team. Partially the girl feared that Madam Pomfrey would make her take a pause from the sport, after inspecting the wounds, and Astrid wasn't willing to do that now with having just a month until their first game.

Astrid sat subconsciously scratching at her hand as she anxiously awaited the results of their first Herbology test that year. She thought she had done okay. But she had also thought she had done okay on them every previous test they had had and that had never turned out particularly bright.

That day the students were having the lesson in one of the lighter first-floor classrooms. The large windows of the room made everything look twice as bright as what in-the-dungeons-living folk had been used to. The sun shining through the wide windows beautifully illuminated all the plants professor Sprout had arranged around the classroom and Astrid couldn't help but wish she had such a knack for keeping flowers alive.

Soon the tests were handed out and Astrid sighed once she saw it was a Poor. It was always P and no matter how hard she studied beforehand, the girl simply couldn't get a higher mark. With the OWLs coming up that year Astrid began considering that maybe she should after all go to Millicent and ask for her help on the subject. It would be right embarrassing to receive a failing OWL.

Astrid glanced to her right and there Daphne had an E. Looking to her left and over the gap between the tables, the brunette girl could see that Hannah Abbott and the cheetopuff Susan Bones girl (who had hexed her behind her back in the duelling club back in second year) both also had E's. Wherever Astrid looked she saw smiling faces and was downright disappointed to think of that she was the only student failing such a seemingly simple class.

But then she heard the scoff of Pansy Parkinson, who had long changed seats from sitting next to Millicent to sitting next to the lonely Hufflepuff who had always sat behind Daphne and Astrid during Herbology. Hastily turning around Astrid saw the raven-haired girl had received a D and couldn't help herself breaking out in a grin.

"Ey, you're even worse in Herbology than I am," Astrid smiled, teasing. She personally had thought of the sentence as a joke, since it was a well-known fact amongst the Slytherin fifth-years that Astrid couldn't even keep a cactus alive. 

Besides Pansy had always received Os.

The glare the raven-haired girl sent Astrid's way was a clear indicator she wasn't in the least amused. "Who do you think did all the work for me?" Pansy barked, making Astrid press her smile into a thin line. "Daft cow doesn't talk to me anymore."

Astrid pursued her lips pressing them to the side as she thought about how exactly was she supposed to respond to that. The girl had just wanted to joke around but Pansy had ruined the whole vibe. Like she had been doing an awful lot lately.

Astrid glared slightly, deciding she would choose to defend the friend that still talked to her as she muttered a venomous. "Of course..."

Only when she had turned back around to face the front of the classroom did Astrid notice she had begun scratching at her hand more aggressively than she had intended. This too had been happening an awful lot lately. Her temper seemingly grew shorter with every day coming and sometimes the girl herself didn't notice the anger seeping under her skin.