they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 2 - 11

"What happened to your face?"

"What do you mean?"

"Merlin, you look horrendous."

It was their first day back in school after Christmas and those few words had been the very first Astrid had heard Pansy speak.

Daphne had gotten a fresh set of eyeshadows and many lipsticks and eyeliners as her Christmas present from her parents and she was obsessed. All Daphne had talked about, since they got back, had been about the makeup and what kind of a salon she would open when she'd grow up and who'd be her customers and blablabla. 'And it's not going to be too expensive so I could also help people like you' she had said innocently, not fully realising what she was saying. Daphne had only meant good but her comment had implied two things. One - she was poor (which she was not; the others seemed to think that just because she wasn't explicitly rich like the rest of them), and two - she desperately needed makeup to look better. Astrid was used to Daphne's sly comments so she hadn't given it much thought. Okay, she tried to not give it much thought...

Right that moment though, standing at the doorway of their dorm, Daphne had done a not so amazing job of applying her makeup and Pansy had pointed it out. Personally, Astrid thought it didn't actually look that bad.

"You should learn how to properly do it before actually going out like that! What spell could even make it look like that?"

"I didn't use a spell. I don't know spells for makeup yet," Daphne said completely unphased. The purple on her eyes was strikingly pigmented. "I applied it with my hands and a brush."

Pansy frowned but Daphne continued on, not catching the bitterness of Parkinson's words. "Mum taught me this technique where-"

"Can you shut up about the eyeshadow for one second, Greengrass, or I swear I'll have to drown you in the Dark Lake," Tracey interrupted her and looked like she was actually on the verge of killing the girl.

To be completely honest, Astrid herself had almost come to the same idea. Makeup was the last thing she ever wanted to talk about and here was Daphne blabbering on about her never-ending sea of gifts. Astrid didn't get twice as many presents as Daphne had but she wasn't jealous either, then ones she had gotten meant the world to her. 

Her father had gifted her some ancient-looking spellbook (having noticed his daughter's sudden interest in hexing) that was specifically designed to teach harmless spells you could prank other's with, and which by the looks of it was very old and probably very expensive. She knew her father hated appearing in the Wizard world so getting the book must've been an adventure in itself. Mum had gifted Astrid new pyjamas, ones she had been pointing out to her mum for the past year every time they had gone window shopping. Upon seeing dad's present mum had gone a bit berserk about how inappropriate of a gift it was. Eric's first response had been that she should send her complaints to Santa Claus and that he had nothing to do with it, for which she had just glared at him. She appeared to be mad but the continuous small upward twitches of her lips only indicated she actually found her husband amusing. It had gone on like that for a bit; of Eric explaining how important it is to be stand up to bullies, as well as how awesome and fun it is to secretly tamper with others, while Laura had stood her ground saying that this was really bad parenting and that violence shouldn't be encouraged. Eric had argued back it wasn't violence and was much more harmless than an actual physical fight and Laura had rolled her eyes wondering why she had ever married the man. Astrid just sat watching with amusement. To her, it was like some Spanish soap opera she had once seen on the telly and if she had had some popcorn it would've been a full experience. 

Astrid personally had gifted her parents their favourite box of chocolates and each a Christmas card. She knew it wasn't much but frankly, she didn't have the money to buy anything big. Just like every year, she stuck to cheaper and more practical things. In this case a Christmas card. They knew how much effort she had put into the gift knowing their impatient child and how she was never the one to sit in one place for long, let alone spend a whole evening cutting, writing, colouring and what not the Christmas cards. Each had a lengthy message as if sent from Santa Claus himself and she personally believed they were actually quite clever and creative. Her personal favourite line had been this: 'p.s. if you want a bigger present from me next year you should allow Astrid to have her own radio in her room'. Her mum had chuckled but Astrid found it no laughing matter. She loved jumping around and dancing and since she couldn't have that in Hogwarts, she needed it at home. Besides, with music in the background, it was actually much easier (and much more pleasant) for her to get things done and come up with great ideas.