Sweets: The Tale of Astoria Greengrass

The Very Next Day, You Gave It Away

Only a week later, Christmas rolled around. It wasn't exactly a ceremonious affair. Besides, New Years was most important this year. Daphne planned on hosting everyone that year, and Astoria decided to get herself involved in the fun.

Queenie became more lively. She dressed up every day now and applied makeup and took regular baths. She also laughed and smiled more as she put up decorations and cooked her own confections alongside Astoria.

Astoria had forgotten Queenie liked to cook. She supposed she got her love for baking from her. It was funny, how little she really did take after her parents. She wasn't nearly as shrewd or opportunistic as Waldorf- if anything, Daphne had taken after him more with raw ambition and the cunning to match. She wasn't a socialite like Queenie- Daphne had taken that too, it seemed.

Not for the first time, Astoria wondered if she'd been adopted. Maybe she took after some ancestor that had been removed from the record books. Fine, she could take that. But as she saw Queenie come back to life, she noticed all the small things. Maybe she was a bit more easily motivated, like her father. Maybe she was sunny and social, like her mother, even if sometimes she preferred books.

It didn't account for her muggle-loving heart, though.

Astoria sat in the black dress Daphne had given her, with the matching shawl around her arms. Despite the fire roaring in the tall granite chimney, she felt cold. Then again, who wouldn't with Pansy Parkinson constantly glaring at them?

She didn't understand what she'd done to earn the young witch's wrath, but she never wanted to in the first place. She'd gladly apologize, if Pansy would just tell her. This wasn't the time or the place, however. The drinking between the young purebloods escalated over the course of the evening as they watched the clock tick closer to another year.

Astoria had a little more class than to start a drama during such a party. She discovered, however, that the same could not be said for Pansy.

"Lil' witch," Pansy muttered, her voice slurring from the firewhiskey. A new bottle was in her hand, and her grip was shaky at best on it. "Stealin' my man. Just jealous o' my life."

"Are you talking about m' sister?" Daphne asked. Daphne was tipsy, but not drunk like Pansy obviously was.

"Haven't you seen 'er?" Pansy asked, her aquamarine eyes locking onto Astoria in her corner. "Lil' heartbreaker. Jus' look at how she dresses."

Astoria raised the muggle romance book from Flourish and Blotts to cover her face, as if it might obscure her from Pansy's memory. But alas, it seemed that Pansy was sharper than Astoria gave her credit for.

"Thinks she can hide from me with a book," she rambled. "Merlin, such a witch."

Astoria became painfully aware that Draco was also in the room, also clearly not sober. He was turning bright red at Pansy's comments, and seemed to be trying to hide from Pansy as well with obnoxiously loud conversation with Theodore and Blaise.

"Come on, give her a break," Daphne protested as she began to giggle. "That's my dress, for crying out loud!"

"Bad idea," Pansy muttered. "Not much to look at, but the dress gives something."

Astoria's brown eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. She set down the book and rushed past to outside, holding her shawl closer around herself. She stepped out into the cold. For once, Daphne wasn't bothering her about her health. That was fine by Astoria.

Her breath created clouds, and for a moment, Astoria fancied herself a dragon, creating smoke in the night sky. After a few minutes, she gave up and laughed, feeling quite silly.