'I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.
That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody.'

The Catcher in the Rye

For CallMeKills, whose beta skills made this readable.

Had anyone asked about Astoria Greengrass before the last potions class of 1997, even most Slytherins would have replied with, 'sorry, who?' That was, of course, until the girl in question and Cassiopeia Vance were paired together in Slughorn's final lesson before the Christmas holidays. It was a disaster in all respects.

Cassiopeia Vance was a bit of an enigma. Ninety-nine percent of the student population viewed her with a kind of suspicious curiosity. It was almost warranted, because for that ninety-nine percent, she was living proof that the Sorting Hat could get it wrong. In fact, in many students' opinions, the Sorting Hat must have had a severe case of scrofungulus at the exact moment that Cassiopeia was sorted.

She was a very un-Ravenclaw Ravenclaw, which was to say, she was a bit thick. Astoria secretly thought that she would have been far better off in Gryffindor, where beauty and brawn were valued far more than cunning and intelligence. Plus, Gryffindors were famous for getting themselves into sticky situations, on account of their inability to think before acting.

(Which, unfortunately, was exactly what Cassiopeia did on that auspicious day.)

At the time, Astoria thought it was a blessing to be partnered with the airy brunette. Vance's mindless chatter and an inability to pay attention could be masked by Astoria's hard work. Of course, she just had to remember to say 'Mm, interesting,' and 'Oh really?' at the correct moments. Plus, Emilia Parkinson had been eyeing her as a partner, and Astoria would have much preferred a partner who was rubbish at potions but let her do all the work (resulting in a perfect potion), rather than one who tried to look productive but ended up ruining absolutely everything.

Despite being a Slytherin, however, Astoria proved to be a very poor judge of character that day.

Cassiopeia chatted a lot. She also seemed incapable of reading, because instead of adding ingredients for the Befuddlement Draught, she had, at one stage, added some gurdyroot and armadillo bile. Frustratingly pointing at the page they were supposed to be following, Astoria tipped the bright-blue mixture out and began again.

While trying to protect her half-decent work from the eager clutches of her partner, Astoria added the final parts of the concoction, and began stirring for the second time. Grasping the ladle firmly and rotating her wrists in an anti-clockwise motion around the cauldron, her dark hair fell over her face, her skin ruddy and red from the heat. Unfortunately, in the motion of pushing the annoying curls out of her eyes, her left hand rested momentarily on the boiling metal. Letting out a yelp of pain, she thrust the ladle into Cassiopeia's hand to inspect her injuries.

(Truth be told, it would have been much less painful to simply continue stirring, but that was with the benefit of hindsight.)

In a true indication of her hopelessness, Vance managed to complete the potion in the most incorrect fashion. Even more astoundingly, she managed to turn a potion worth at least an E into a T in a matter of three minutes. Much later, Astoria would revel over her uncanny knack to absolutely ruin things. It was somewhat of a talent.

After ascertaining that the burn was only going to cause minor discomfort, Astoria turned back to the cauldron, only to see her partner adding more ingredients. Groaning with utter frustration at the picture of incompetency before her, Astoria rushed forward to knock the gurdyroot out of Vance's hands and thus, at least partially salvage their work. True to her nature, Cassiopeia had managed to get more of the infusion on the floor rather than in the cauldron, so in the mere five metres between them, Astoria managed to slip spectacularly and tumble over backwards onto the hard, stone floor.

It would have been mortifying, and Astoria was sure her face would have flushed ruby-red. As it happened, she simply didn't have the time to be embarrassed, because Cassiopeia chose that moment to turn around, right hand clutched at her mouth in shock, her left hand carelessly knocking the cauldron off the stand.

The forty kilograms of metal barely missed Astoria, but the concoction inside it definitely did not. Dark grey matter splattered all over her; her toes to the tips of her brown hair covered.

Furious, Astoria spat out the excessive amount of potion which had ended up in her mouth. She stood up indignantly, head running with insults to verbally abuse the stupid, incompetent, ridiculously vacant girl in front of her.

She opened her mouth to say so, but absolutely nothing came out.

~.~

Madame Pomfrey and the General Healer from St. Mungo's said there was little they could do. Apparently, Vance was talented enough to stump the brilliant minds at the Magical Malady department. Astoria didn't say anything. She couldn't.

Mute.

The fact of the matter was; Astoria was likely never to speak again. Because no one, not even Cassiopeia, remembered exactly what she put in the potion, never mind the order or the subsequent actions in which she did it.

(Which didn't surprise anyone in the slightest.)

General Healer Smith had offered Astoria's parents the services of a specialist. Of course, everyone jumped at the slight possibility that Astoria wouldn't remain like this forever, because frankly, no respectable man was ever going to want a mute wife. At least, that's what Astoria's mother had said. Astoria's father seemed to think it a blessing; Astoria's mother spoke far too much in his opinion.

The only issue was that this specialist was away on a research tour in Mongolia, so Astoria was at least going to be mute for the two weeks over the Christmas holidays. This was far from an exciting prospect for everyone involved, except perhaps Astoria herself, who in all honesty, didn't think it would be that far from her current demeanour.

Being a mute would surely get her a few sympathy marks, she thought, and at least she couldn't be blamed for physically attacking Vance if she ever got the opportunity. It wasn't as if she could verbalize it, after all.

Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass were travelling that year, over the Christmas holidays. They did so almost every year, because they 'simply needed a break' from the stressful child-rearing duties and 'time to get away,' because they didn't seem to get enough time for this in the nine-or-so months that Daphne and Astoria were away at school. Despite the fact that one of their two daughters had just undergone a horrid potions disaster, the trip was not cancelled, and Daphne and Astoria would most definitely be spending Christmas at Hogwarts, again.

It seemed like all the half-decent people got to go home over the break. All of Astoria's friends definitely did, not that she really had many. Slytherins made excellent tutors and allies, but friends? No, they were far too untrustworthy. Hufflepuffs were boring, Ravenclaws, too arrogant, and well, Astoria would never befriend a Gryffindor. She didn't have a death wish.

That year, it seemed the entire fourth year Slytherin cohort was returning home over the break. Daphne, on the other hand, had most of her sixth year friends staying with her. Unfortunately, this meant that Astoria had absolutely no one to balance the mediocrity and sheer irritation that came with socializing with Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. Not to mention that Theodore Nott, Daphne's obsession, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle would be remaining in the castle as well. Surprisingly, Draco Malfoy was also rumoured to be spending Christmas there, although barely anyone saw him in those days.

So on the first morning of the holidays Astoria slept through the departure of her classmates. They were far too lucky, and jealousy didn't suit her. Plus, she'd been treated as an oddity for the past few days, and was rather sick of being stared at. It was a bit disconcerting going from anonymous classmate to moderate celebrity overnight.

Rousing lazily at twelve-thirty, she padded softly into the dormitory bathroom and took a long, hot shower. Half dressed in the cubicle, she was just about to pull a pair of jeans over her thighs before the door burst open and Millicent Bulstrode came within two inches of her face.

Both girls shrieked in fright, (well, Millicent did, Astoria simply jumped with her mouth open; no sound coming from her mouth), and Astoria quickly wrapped a protective arm around her chest, attempting to conceal the ugly, grey bra she had just thrown on.

'Shit, Greengrass! Lock the door next time would you?' the older girl screeched, fumbling in her robes for something.

Astoria opened her mouth to comment that the door was locked, and Millicent, who despite growing out of her big-boned and brawny thirteen-year-old physique had knocked the door right off its hinges. Predictably however, no sound escaped her lips, and she simply mouthed the insults uselessly, a look of fury crossing her features.

Millicent smirked at the sight, her lips curling back in amusement. It was rather unbecoming for a relatively pretty person, Astoria thought. Millicent, who had been a large and boisterous girl in her first three years at Hogwarts, had undergone a transformation at the beginning of Astoria's second year. A growth spurt had transformed her heavy, but non-curvaceous frame into a tall and slim build. Her heavy-set jaw had softened slightly, as her general hygienic practices had improved beyond doubt. Her long, wavy black hair contrasted perfectly with her watery blue eyes, making her somewhat unusually beautiful.

In Astoria's opinion, this physical revolution perfectly coincided with the personality degradation. Millicent was about as friendly as a chimera these days, with an air of arrogance and self-righteousness. All in all, she was quite low on Astoria's friendship list. Until now, Millicent had barely noticed her existence.

'I forgot, you can't say anything now, can you Greengrass?' she sneered, 'what a pity.'

Astoria furrowed her eyebrows defiantly, tugging her jeans up and buttoning them, concluding the lack of privacy was hardly going to make a discernable difference to her pride now.

'You're really nothing like Daphne,' she continued, 'a bit plain, I'd say you are. Nothing lovely about your features, although you are rather slim,' she trailed off, looking Astoria up and down.

'You really do need to take a little more pride in your appearance too,' she commented. 'That bra is hardly going to make a man want to rip it off you, is it?'

Astoria fumed, tugging her shirt and jumper over the top of the item in question, and picking up her toilet bag and clothes, she brushed Millicent off, heading towards the mirror.

Millicent followed, which was simply infuriating. Astoria wondered what part of her current attitude displayed the notion that she revelled in the present company. Millicent either had zero tact, or actually enjoyed being an annoying prat.

'A tad antisocial too,' she mused, sliding down against the emerald green wall to sit comfortably on a tiled bench, 'I doubt that you'd even care whether someone found you mildly attractive.'

Astoria turned to glare, but then reflected that the other Slytherin was going to get far less satisfaction if she was simply ignored. Considering that Millicent seemed to revel in attention, placid indifference was probably her best line of defence. It also seemed like Millicent was about to launch into a tirade of useless, self-centred babble, which, Astoria thought, was hardly going to be interrupted by a few dirty looks. Despite the older girl's recent aspersions, Astoria didn't fancy facing anyone else without thoroughly preparing her appearance.

'Of course, having people find you attractive is somewhat of a curse,' the sixth year continued, 'I, for one, only have my eye on a certain person.'

She paused dramatically. 'Well, don't you want to know who it is Greengrass?'

Astoria pointedly looked at her reflection in the mirror.

'Oh I forgot, you're mute. Oh well,' she continued without another thought, 'I wasn't going to tell you anyway – Slytherins have far too much of a self-preserving nature to give away their secrets. Although, I can tell you that there are so many delicious ones in this dormitory. I would know.'

She smirked maliciously at the opposite wall, talking to no one in particular, because Astoria was trying her hardest not to hear.

'You know what I despise Greengrass? Those girls who get all the half-decent males, and can't appreciate it. You know, there's a distinct lack of talent in my cohort – I suppose Vincent and Gregory at living proof of that – but there's some very attractive catches out there. What I wouldn't give to take some of them for a ride-'

Anticipating that the conversation was about to take a turn for the overtly sexual, Astoria hurried her wandwork. Unfortunately, this only resulted in a smear of black liner smudging over her upper lid.

'-and then, he would probably want to take me to – Oh honestly, you have to be patient with that Greengrass, here, I'll do it.'

Snatching her wand from her back pocket, she strode over and grasped Astoria's face with her left hand, while focusing her wand arm on the other's face. Eyes wide, and slightly watering from Millicent's firm grip, Astoria stood stock still. After all, she didn't want to be mute and blind.

'There, much better,' the raven haired girl said, satisfaction creeping into her voice as she strode back over to the bench, 'as I was saying, Pansy, well, she gets all the luck doesn't she Greengrass? She has boys fawning over her, Merlin knows why, she's plainer than you. Must be, you know, talented in other areas if you know what I mean.'

It was all Astoria could do to stop herself from covering her ears with her hands. Really, Pansy was the one girl who bored her more than Millicent, and here she was, getting the confessions of both of them.

(She also didn't want another mishap with makeup, and the mascara wand was dangling dangerously close to her eyeball.)

'I can't believe her, screwing Blaise Zabini like that,' Millicent went on, 'and when she has the most perfect boyfriend hanging off her arm. I mean, Draco is very detached now, I hear, but who could get bored with someone who looks like that? He really is quite good looking, and his hair, well, it would be great to hold onto if he ever – shit, I really shouldn't have said all that.'

She looked at Astoria with a fiery gaze, something that clearly said never repeat this, or by Salazar, I will murder you in multiple ways much worse than a simple AK.

Astoria's eyes flicked back to the mirror. Taking this to mean that she acquiesced to the unspoken agreement, the older girl continued.

'I suppose no one's really going to take a mute girl seriously anyway; you can't exactly shout my secrets from the rooftops can you?'

She languished in this reassurance for a moment before turning back to Astoria again. Astoria glared at her through the mirror, green eyes setting hard in their sockets as she clenched her jaw. Millicent could hardly talk about taking people seriously. With a last name like Bulstrode most males thought she wanted to date a woman.

'Anyway, nice chatting to you Greengrass, but I ought to be going now,' she said, standing and stretching out her legs, 'I honestly can't sit around here wasting my time with you.'

With that, she skipped out, no doubt to find a Malfoy to drool over, leaving Astoria relieved, but with a slightly bruised ego.

~.~

By the third day of the holidays, Astoria was beginning to wish Vance had turned her deaf instead of mute. Millicent had managed to find her at different times during the day to recap on her experience of finding and then losing Draco Malfoy. The girl was intrigued beyond normalcy about his whereabouts – something which definitely resembled a serious stalking problem.

'He just disappears sometimes,' Millicent whispered, taking Astoria's silence to mean that she was interested. 'It's like he's a ghost.'

Wanting to tell Millicent that she wished she was a ghost, and therefore dead, Astoria desperately looked for someone to rescue her. Being unable to mutter a half-hearted excuse and wander away was a definite problem, and since she was unable to sign like the muggle mutes did, she had to put up with Millicent's chatter.

'Milly! Astoria! Exploding Snap game?' Daphne yelled from across the common room. A couple of seventh years who were trying to study glared, but the blonde ignored them and motioned eagerly for the girls to join her and Pansy by the fire.

Thanking God for an older sister who had somehow learned Legilimency, Astoria pulled a reluctant Millicent over to the other girls and plopped down on one of the plush, emerald chairs.

'Elegant aren't you, Greengrass?' Pansy sneered. 'Not you Daphne, for Merlin's sakes stop pouting like that.'

'You're in a bit of a mood today Parkinson,' Daphne retorted, setting the cards out on the coffee table. 'Anyone would think you're being deprived.'

Recalling Millicent's aspersions from the bathroom the other day, Astoria covered a smirk with her hand. Unfortunately she didn't manage it very well, and Pansy opened her mouth to abuse both sisters simultaneously. Fortunately, at that moment Draco Malfoy sauntered into the common room, and the words seemed to die in her throat.

He scanned his eyes flippantly over the group, and with a bored expression, relaxed back into an armchair on the opposite side of the common room, closing his eyes in thought.

Millicent very obviously primped her hair, eyes growing wide in adulation. Astoria thought her observations on the older girl's tact had proved very accurate. It didn't escape Pansy's notice either, who turned her disapproving gaze to the raven haired beauty.

'Daph,' Millicent said, ignoring Pansy's very obvious look. 'Bathroom, now?'

'But I just set the cards – ouch! Milly!'

Millicent had sent a very well-aimed kick in the blonde's direction, and, hand reaching out to cover the throbbing wound, Daphne glared.

'Okay, okay! God Mill, you're literally going to kill me one day.'

Finding herself alone in Pansy's company was not an enticing thought, but as Astoria rose to sneak off to solitude in the dormitory under the guise of following her sister, Pansy grasped her arm and pulled her back to the chair.

'You're not leaving me alone here Greengrass,' she said in a strained whisper, 'it wouldn't do justice to my reputation.'

Wishing she could note that Pansy hardly had a desirable reputation, Astoria snatched her arm away from the sixth year, but obediently stayed in the armchair. Pansy's eyes flicked over to Draco's form, contemplation covering his pale, angular features.

'He's such a bore, these days, don't you think Greengrass?' she sighed. 'Not that it really matters what you think of course, it's not like you can tell anyone about it.'

Making a motion to get up from the chair, Astoria found herself being clutched at again by the other Slytherin. To be honest, she really wasn't in the mood for being insulted, and if by chance Pansy eventuated into another Millicent she would probably pitch herself off the astronomy tower. Her Christmas break was turning out to be more horrible than the average Divination class.

'Touchy, touchy Greengrass,' she commented, pulling Astoria back to the seat again. 'You can't let simple insults get to you; you are a Slytherin after all.

'Oh, you don't mind me telling you about him and all of this, do you? I suppose you couldn't tell me either way, so I'm just going to assume you don't mind…'

Astoria internally groaned, flopping back into the chair. The astronomy tower was looking awfully lovely.

'Anyway, Draco, well, he's sort of doing something strange. Sneaking off late at night, disappearing for hours on end, it really is suspicious stuff. I don't really care if he's screwing around with some random Hufflepuff or something, I mean, we are together but it's not like I abide by those rules either, but you'd think that the whole school would know about it now, don't you?'

Astoria nodded, purely out of politeness that Pansy definitely didn't deserve. In her head, she was trying to find something mildly interesting to look at or think about. Even Arithmancy sums would be better than Pansy's problems.

'Yes well, I'm beginning to wonder if this change in attitude is, I don't know… He used to always be keen for a good time if you know what I mean, and he was really quite talented in that department, but now, well he doesn't want anything. I don't want to be the one going out with a fucking poof, do I Astoria?'

The brunette shook her head, in boredom rather than nicety. Pansy had this draining voice, and her left knee was slightly higher than the right knee, Astoria had noticed. Her jumper was also kind of an ugly colour, which was surprising for Pansy; she was usually very high fashion. Her distraction was broken by Pansy's voice again.

'What exactly are you staring at Greengrass?'

Mortified, Astoria noticed that in her complete lack of attention she had been staring at Pansy's jumper, more specifically at her chest region. It was completely unintentional, and if Pansy hadn't been so dull then perhaps it would never have happened, but now Pansy probably thought that-

But Pansy didn't think that. In fact, as it turned out, it was completely obvious that Pansy only thought about herself, because despite catching another person staring at her chest, Pansy ignored the interruption and continued on about how Malfoy could possibly be homosexual for the next tedious five minutes.

'And then there's Millicent of course,' Pansy noted, finally breaking away from the Draco-induced delirium. 'Don't think for a minute I haven't realised what she's thinking, the dirty slut. She's supposed to be my best friend for Merlin's sakes, what kind of friend lusts over your boyfriend?'

'You know, she really ought to be more grateful, I was perfectly lovely to her when she was ugly, unlike most of those boys.'

This was a lie of course; Pansy could never have been described as perfectly lovely, but Astoria couldn't exactly tell her that.

'You know, Millicent isn't good enough to touch Draco's robes let alone snog him. Trust me Astoria, I know all her secrets and there's a great one hidden in her closet. She probably begged the Sorting Hat to put her in this house; because there's no way that someone with her blood impurity would make it here on actual ability.'

For the first time in her life, Astoria was actually intrigued by what Pansy had to say. It was unusual for a Slytherin to lie about their blood purity. Given the roots of pureblood families that stretched back over generations, it was almost impossible to deceive people on those things.

'It's true,' Pansy confirmed, dropping her voice to a whisper, 'Millicent doesn't know who her father is. It could be Laurence Bulstrode, but for all she knows it could be an unidentified male, which her whore of a mother slept with around nine months before her birth.

'That man,' Pansy continued dramatically, 'was a muggle. It's true!' she insisted, seeing Astoria's disbelieving and cynical expression.

'Seriously Greengrass, if Salazar was still alive, she probably wouldn't even be at Hogwarts. She's basically a mudblood.'

Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to blow any more of Millicent Bulstrode's secrets, because at that moment the witch in question re-entered the room, a face full of shiny makeup adorning her features as she shot a hopeful look in Malfoy's direction. He didn't even open his eyes. Pansy grinned maliciously.

'You look lovely, Milly' she purred, 'and who are you looking so beautiful for?'

~.~

By the Christmas day, Astoria was on the verge of murder. She had been ruthlessly pursued by Millicent and her repugnant perfume, abused by Pansy, who obviously thought the best way to get people to keep your secrets was to bully them, and pressed by Daphne who wanted to know exactly what she should get Theodore for Christmas. She'd had absolutely no time to do anything else except escape these manic women, and wondered where exactly Malfoy seemed to go for large periods of time because by Merlin she really wanted a good hiding place.

She'd never suspected that giving people the silent treatment would be such a curse. She thought that kind of behaviour was reserved for enemies, or friends who had done wrong by you. It wasn't supposed to draw people closer, and, in a warped way, the drawing-in wasn't even due to the sympathy she deserved.

Therefore, the thought of spending time with all three girls at the annual Christmas party tonight was not looking promising.

The Slytherin Christmas party was a bit of a misnomer. It wasn't much of a party, rather, it traditionally was a messy affair for years five and up (although Astoria was always snuck in by Daphne, mostly against her will). For the most part, the older year levels tended to get very drunk and wrap their arms around each other, or plan how to kill various Gryffindors.

Theodore, Vincent and Gregory had, somehow managed to procure the large amounts of Firewhisky deemed necessary for the event, and for Astoria, that only made it more obvious the night would shape up to be a poor one. She suspected that it would probably end in tears, or at least a vicious cat fight.

It was therefore, a bit of a shock when Draco Malfoy settled himself down on the common room couch next to her, completely sober and tired-looking. He flicked his eyes over her rather flippantly, before relaxing back against the upholstery and sighing, exasperatedly.

'Shouldn't you be locked out with all the other unfortunate younger students, Greengrass?' he drawled, looking away from her with a bored expression on his face.

'Oh,' he snorted derisively, realising his mistake, 'how silly of me to expect you to respond.'

Anger bubbling up inside her again, Astoria rose decisively and left him to wallow on the couch. Insults ran though his head regarding his ignorance and probable homosexuality as she strode away – straight into Theodore.

'Watch where you're going Greengrass!' he yelped, as she jumped off his toe. 'This is probably how you got that potion spilled all over you in the first place,' he noted crossly, straightening his robes.

Glaring, she stepped past him before he grasped her arm and spun her around. Looking into her eyes curiously he paused for a second, drinking in her face. It was, all in all, very disconcerting.

'By the way, your sister is in our dormitory,' he paused again and leaned in far too closely to be considered comfortable, 'without her underwear on.'

He smirked at her expression and turned away, striding over and perching himself on the couch she had just occupied.

Skipping up the stairs two at a time, Astoria raced toward the boy's dormitory, mentally preparing herself for whatever gruesome sight may have greeted her. It was a bit of a shock to find Daphne on the floor, rather than a bed, and alone, with her legs curled into her chest, rather than with a seventh year.

Astoria crossed the room hurriedly, kicking various bits of clothes and furniture out of her way. She wanted to yell out her sister's name and ask her what on earth Theodore had done, but of course, she couldn't. It was the first time she had really, truly needed her voice. Instead, she looked imploringly at her sister, and wrapped her arms protectively around her form.

Daphne shrunk into the embrace, sobbing quietly amongst the folds of Astoria's cloak. They sat there until Astoria's back began to throb, and gently pulling Daphne to her feet, she realised that her sister was developing a large bruise on her right cheekbone, and her left leg was rather tender.

Frustrated by the lack of answers, she conjured words from her wand. In familiar, red cursive she asked Daphne silently what had happened to her. Daphne simply shrieked again and dissolved into tears, leaning heavily into the fourth year's arms.

Admitting to herself that she probably wasn't going to get many answers tonight, Astoria pulled Daphne to her feet once more and, supporting her weight on her shoulders, helped her limp across the landing to the girl's dormitory. Pushing the door open she heard a breathy giggle, and a silencing charm being cast from Millicent's bed, the hangers drawn tight.

Setting Daphne down on her own bed, Astoria cast her own silencing charm and tucked her older sibling into the swathes of sheets. Daphne muttered a 'thanks' and sunk down into the warmth. Then, just as Astoria began to rise again, Daphne tearily pulled her close, her breath catching in her throat as she struggled to form the words she wanted to say.

'Theodore, he-,' she began, and choked back another round of tears again. 'He said I was stupid.'

Incredulous, Astoria wanted to scream that obviously, verbally assaulting her sister wasn't the only thing he'd done. But of course, she said nothing. Instead, she tucked the sheets back over Daphne's form and closed the hangings, marching out the door and down the stairs again.

She found Theodore lounging on the sofa with a bored Draco. Standing purposefully in front of the Slytherin boy she furrowed her eyebrows and curled her finger towards herself, beckoning him to stand.

He did, while snidely whispering to Draco, 'I like it better when they can't scream, anyway.'

Draco shot him a disgusted look and turned back to staring at the wall.

He honestly couldn't have expected much adulation, but he was evidently floored when Astoria, who had, until that moment, never physically maimed anyone, socked him in the face. It was quite satisfactory, she thought.

The common room stared. Even Draco managed to take his eyes off the plaster.

~.~

After the horror that was the Christmas party, Theodore had attempted to get her on her own. No doubt, she thought, to inflict some kind of barbaric physical injury. It was a time where Astoria was very grateful for the seemingly constant attention she got from Millicent.

Astoria was also far from wrong about the cat-fights. Millicent and Pansy had obviously taken inspiration from her punch and had subsequently brawled in the middle of the common room. Firewhisky seemed to take away all semblance of duelling.

Luckily, it was only six more days until the break ended, and classes resumed. On the last of those days, the specialist arrived from Mongolia, tanned, and smelling strangely of some kind of exotic spice.

He was rather tattered looking, and introduced himself only as 'Brett the specialist,' which made Astoria and the rest of the Greengrasses wonder whether he was a specialist at all. He was rather fancy with wand work, however, and tried various different techniques. After every one he would ask Astoria a question, and nothing would come out.

Beginning to give up hope with Brett-the-specialist, Astoria's parents flooed home from the headmaster's office, and Daphne was ordered back downstairs by Pomfrey. Although they had been at it for five hours straight, Brett insisted he was closing in on the problem.

'Really, it's just a- sorry try again? No? Okay, well it's just an issue of finding out what exactly was concocted with the gurdyroot and all the other ingredients that wasn't supposed to be,' he babbled, 'your friend, Astoria, whoever she is, is very talented at this and should definitely not pursue potions as a career choice.'

Astoria glared and opened her mouth as Brett flicked his wand again.

'She is most definitely not my friend,' she shrieked, sending Brett flying backwards in fright and Pomfrey hurrying in.

'Good Merlin Astoria, no need to shout,' she chastised.

Astoria clutched at her throat in wonder, a smile working its way onto her features. Millicent was going to get the full blast of it tomorrow.

'Lacewing fly? Really?' Brett-the-specialist said, combing his black curly hair with his fingers. 'What an odd combination!'

'Yes, well, you have no idea what this girl was like,' Astoria begun in earnest, enjoying the sound of her voice, 'absolutely mental.'

Brett-the-specialist laughed manically, which was slightly scary, and shook the young Slytherins hand.

'Lovely to work with you Miss Greengrass.'

'Likewise,' she lied, getting up off the bed and practically sprinting towards the exit to Pomfrey's protests.

'Thanks Brett!' she called over her shoulder, pushing the doors open and running down the stairs, through the courtyard and across the viaduct. Reaching the viaduct entrance she was greeted by a familiar sight. Draco Malfoy was slouched on one of the steps in contemplation, twiddling his hawthorn wand between his fingers absentmindedly.

'Greengrass,' he muttered hoarsely, 'shouldn't you be in bed?'

She paused for a moment, before tossing him a look and beginning to walk off.

'Wait, Greengrass,' he continued more authoritatively, 'you don't fancy sitting here for a minute do you?'

To be honest, she'd heard too much about Draco Malfoy. He looked sort of forlorn, sitting there by himself, but quite frankly, he was a bit of a git at the best of times, and she'd heard far too much about him from Millicent, Pansy and Daphne over the last two weeks to care.

'No, I don't fancy it,' she began, as he balked at the sound of her voice. 'Honestly Malfoy, your life neither concerns me, nor interests me, and believe me when I say it has made by last two weeks exceedingly miserable.'

She stood for a moment to enjoy the incredulous look which crossed his features at that assertion, and let her face fill with a satisfactory smirk.

'You are bloody strange Greengrass.'

'Well, it's better than being boring, isn't it?'

'I could only wish my life was as boring as you seem to think,' he said indignantly, but with curiosity burning in his grey eyes.

'Trust me, Millicent made sure I knew your complete biography by heart in two weeks. You aren't, perchance, homosexual though, are you?'

'Excuse me?' he yelped, his blonde eyebrows shooting up into his pale hair.

'Mm, I didn't think so,' you contemplated, trying hard not to laugh at his expression, and began to walk away.

'Greengrass,' he interrupted again, 'you're sort of – well you're sort of refreshing. Bloody strange, but refreshing.' He sort of smiled at her, although because Draco rarely ever smiled it came out looking more like a sneer. 'We'll have to do this again sometime when Millicent and Pansy drive me mental.'

'Not bloody likely Malfoy,' she smirked, turning to walk away again, 'I might be bored to death.'

'Better than being mute,' he called after her retreating figure.

And perhaps, compared to Millicent and Pansy, she thought, fraternizing with Draco Malfoy was sort of refreshing too.