astronomy • marlene mckinnon

fifty one

Astraea's head was a whirlpool of emotions and thoughts. She had woken up in her dorm room hours ago with a splitting headache, everything about the previous night coming back to her in a rush. She had done it, all the hours she had spent in the library going through piles and piles of books were worth it because she had found out the spell which would remove the anti-apparition spells placed on the large castle.

She stared at the ceiling above, the weight of her thoughts crushing her. She had tested the spell out with Nathaniel Avery in the common room and it had worked and there was no denying the part of her which wished it didn't. Sure she would tell the dark lord about the charm which could let the death eaters enter Hogwarts unnoticed and he would appreciate her for doing so, and her mother would be proud of her but then the after-effects would be devastating. Of course, she would tell the order about the dark lord's plan to attack Hogwarts and his ultimate plan to kill Dumbledore to prevent any unnecessary deaths but Hogwarts, the place which was more of a home than her own house ever was would still be in ruins.

"Astraea?" Isabella Fawley's voice reached her ears and she looked at the girl she would call her best friend, but lately, with the way the raven-haired girl was behaving with everyone, she couldn't be sure. "Are you alright? Do you need something?"

"No," she muttered, turning away, not wanting to look at the brunette's face as she once again did something to hurt someone she cared about. "I'm fine."

"Okay." Astraea wasn't looking at the girl, but she could see the frown on her face. "I'm going to the great hall."

The raven-haired girl looked outside the window, determinedly fixing her gaze on the fish swimming in the lake, "Okay, do whatever."

She didn't turn until she heard the sound of the footsteps vanishing and the door closing. She sat up with a groan, fidgeting with the sleeves of the dress she had worn last night and hadn't bothered to change when the brunette had helped her drunk self to their dorm.

"I know a spell which gets rid of hangovers," Victoria Malfoy spoke up from her bed and the raven-haired girl glared daggers at her.

"I don't need anything from you, you've done enough damage," She spat out as her right hand involuntary moved to cover her left forearm, even though the burn had healed, the incident with the dark lord which occurred over Christmas still loomed in her mind like a dark cloud.

"You're doing the right thing, Astraea, by dropping her as a friend, she's a blood traitor."

"Do us all a favour and piss off," she snapped at the blonde before she went to the washroom, truly not having the energy to deal with the girl at whatever time it was, not with the headache she was having. She sat down on the floor, leaning backwards and slightly banging the back of her head against the door, wincing at the slight pain it caused.

In the end, after the raven-haired girl had showered and had a change of clothing, she took help from the blonde and used that spell to get rid of that awful hangover which surprisingly worked. She ignored the 'I-told-you-so' look on her face and walked out of their dormitory, her mind still a mess because unfortunately, the spell had done absolutely nothing to cure her of her deadly thoughts.

The same thoughts which had made her decide to keep as much distance between herself and a certain blonde Gryffindor as she could, just so no one could catch her as a weakness. And to stay away from Isabella, who was now seen as a blood traitor in the sacred twenty-eight and being close friends would only be each other's downfall. Sometimes, the raven-haired girl thought that maybe she could come up with some sort of arrangement, which would satisfy both sides but then she would see the risk which was involved and immediately push the idea out of her head.