Malfoy's Daughter

Chapter Twenty; Timing?

This is the last chapter of Malfoy's Daughter, it will be short, and the rest will continue in the second book, The Lost Malfoy. I hope you enjoyed this story, don't worry much more is coming. -Atley

At the start of the school year, Asteria and Draco flooed to the Weasley's as Potter would be arriving with Albus. Asteria was a bit perplexed by that one but dealt with it as she had dealt with everything over the summer. Her meticulous training of Potter and Draco. Playing naive to their budding relationship, which as far as she could tell hadn't gone further than a few kisses and late nights on the back porch, thankfully. How she dealt with the moving house and supplying food and comfort for the two young wizards in her life, how she dreamt of Charlie and had nightmares of Voldemort and her father, losing the ones she loved the most. How her father's lessons on emotions suddenly always came to mind in the dim twilight of each day, but she pushed the thoughts from her head. She rested on the couch as Molly moved worriedly over them both, not speaking, and then dragging Draco upstairs to put him in Percy's room since she'd be staying in Charlie's room. 

Being left alone was disastrous for her mental state. She was left to contemplate the coming battles, the risks to her brother and Potter. The possibility of losing them as she had lost Alice and Sirius. The thought of it all coming to a head stemmed on the delicate fact that she had noticed the old curse lingering on Albus' hand, and had noticed that the usual twinkle in his eyes had dimmed. She knew the old wizard wasn't long for this world, he had already fought one war, defeating Grindlewald, and now he had fought for years against Voldemort. But the idea of losing the face of the Order, the headmaster of Hogwarts was nearly debilitating, but she knew not to speak of it, it would cause a fuss, a divide in the precarious minds of the Order, the population, the Ministry. She swallowed deeply as the thoughts rolled along the edges of her mind. 

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The first few months of the boys being back at Hogwarts was easy, as Asteria took up a post in Hogsmeade, acting as a bodyguard at Albus' discretion. She would be close by if she was needed by Potter or Draco, and that was easy, she kept to herself. But when she was at home, things grew difficult, she couldn't rely on the soft bustle of her brother or Potter to drown out the worry, so she'd spend time with Tonks, or even Molly, as Charlie was in Romania. She grew a deep respect for her Hufflepuff cousin, who was bright and lighthearted, and their conversations were simple and easy at distracting her. But she missed Sirius, and Alice, and even Charlie, whom she refused to let herself dwell on, not wanting to get lost in thoughts of the Weasley she was sure she was in love with, but love in the middle of a war was dangerous, which caused her to worry about her brother and about Potter, because if things changed, it would blow up in all of their faces. 

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The first sign of real trouble that came was during the Holidays. While happily lounging at the Burrow, tragedy stuck when Bellatrix and a few others attacked the house, sending everyone on high alert, forcibly sending the children back to Hogwarts early. Leaving, Asteria and the others to delicately rebuild the home as well as laying powerful wards and protections down to protect it from happening again, but the sight of Molly Weasley, nearly heartbroken at the sight of her home burned to ashes was enough to almost break Asteria down. 

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It wasn't until the final month when disaster really struck, in the form of a betrayal. Being summoned by Albus to watch the school while he and Potter were away had been simple since she had been charged with this task many times when Albus left the grounds, but this time something else happened, the school was infiltrated by Death Eaters, thanks to Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini. Everyone fought to the best of their abilities, defending the students, and the school, but a shout rang out along the darkened halls during the battle, and Asteria lost all sense and everything went black. 

Draco would comfort Potter at the loss of Dumbledore, and seeth with the betrayal from Snape until it became clear that something worse had happened. Asteria couldn't be found anywhere on the grounds, or in Hogsmeade. The last anyone had seen was her dueling a Death Eater, and nothing else. Everyone was aware that she wouldn't just up and leave and that only left two options, she was either dead somewhere else, or she had been taken.