In Servitude to the Dark || Tom Riddle

𝙋𝙖𝙮 𝙏𝙤 𝙐𝙨𝙚 𝙈𝙮 𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚

Ron's brooding was interrupted when Hermione came out of the girls' stairway with a tote bag flung over her shoulder. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from crying last night. Ron grew a quirky smile, remembering how Hermione had flung herself in his arms after Aster practically screamed at them and accused Hermione of caring more for the house-elves than for her friends. Ron had Hermione all to himself that night, and she was so distraught that she didn't even nag him about his homework.

Ron got up from the couch and quickly appeared by Hermione's side, helping her pick up a S.P.E.W. badge that fell out of her over-stuffed tote bag. "Hey, how are you doing?" he asked trying to sound smooth, but it got awkward because Hermione's eyes weren't on him. They were darting around the room as if looking for someone.

"Did Aster go already? I tried talking to her last night but her bed was warded," she asked.

Ron scowled. Why is it always Aster? "Yeah, just left," he grumbled. "What are you looking for her for anyway? After what she said to us...after how she treated us in third year and taking our Quidditch tickets..."

"I don't care about those stupid tickets," Hermione interrupted. "And for your information, I thought Aster could help me sell some of these badges. House-elf liberations are too important, and I'm not going to jeopardize my cause just over some little argument. I'm sure Aster will come to see it my way. You know, with her popularity and all, she could be a real spokesman for S.P.E.W."

Ron's mind sort of drifted off when Hermione started ranting on about the house-elves again, but something suddenly clicked inside towards the end of her rant. "What if I told you I had a way to sell all those badges for you?" he interrupted.

Hermione came to a stop and stared. Ron usually wasn't the idea guy, so this brought her up short, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say. "I'd say that's great Ron, and I'm glad you're really getting into the spirit of this. But how?"

Ron pulled the tote bag full of badges off her shoulder. "Just let me handle it," he said, straightening up and trying to sound gallant. He felt all warm and tingly when Hermione gifted him with a wide smile.

"...let me go get..."

Ron blinked out of his daze when Hermione suddenly disappeared back up the stairs. He was left befuddled until Hermione came back down and stuffed the collection tin and a blank parchment into his arms too.

"Now, just make sure you keep a careful record of every sale, this will become our official S.P.E.W. roster..."

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November 4, 1994

It was the weekends, which meant Aster had her Politic's lessons with Andromeda Tonks. While she wasn't exactly afraid of facing everyone, she was glad to have a legitimate reason to get away from all the sly looks and whispers that seemed to follow her as closely as her own shadow.

Andromeda already knew the gists of it through the newspaper and snippets of stories that managed to escape the walls of Hogwarts. Of course, most of them were false, outlandish rumors. Knowing how things tended to be blown out of proportion, Aster had written to her about the truth of what really happened-that she hadn't consented to enter the tournament.

"There are a couple of things you can do," Professor Tonks began. "You can fight this. Magically binding contract or not, you did not put your name into the Goblet, and this can be easily proven. Veritaserum, oath swearing, and the like." Then she gave Aster a narrowed eyed look, demonstrating why she was a Slytherin. "But since you already know all this, I am assuming you actually want to compete now that you've been selected."