"we learn to live with the pain. mosaic broken hearts"
By the time it got to Christmas day, there had been no more contact from their parents, not one letter, not one article in the prophet, and not one more breakout. Everything felt as though it was finally returning to normal.
"Good morning, Astoria!" Her sister called from the bed beside her, stretching out her arms.
Astoria turned over to face her, "merry Christmas!" She then rolled over to face Pansy who was still in a deep slumber, raising her voice she called out to her, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" She threw a pillow at her with a smile.
"Merlin Astoria," Pansy spoke in her raspy morning voice, "some of us were still sleeping."
"It's Christmas!" She jumped out of the bed, joining her sister in hers, "you can't sleep in on Christmas! We have to go and open our presents!"
"Give me five more minutes?" Pansy pleaded, closing her eyes once again. "Come and get me once you've managed to get the boys up, they'll be more of a challenge than me!"
Astoria rolled her eyes, "five minutes, no more and no less." She snuggled into her sister, quietly whispering in her ear, "let's go downstairs!"
Daphne smiled at her sister, "come on then," she jumped out of her bed, wrapping herself up in a robe, watching as her sister did the same.
Astoria took her hand, leading her down the winding staircase and into the common room. "Don't look at the tree!" Her sister covered her eyes, Astoria averting her gaze from that side of the room. "Boys!!" She called out once she reached the bottom of their stairs. "Don't make me come up there!"
She heard chuckling from upstairs. "You wish you could," Blaise called out through their closed door.
Pulling out her wand, she aimed it up the stairs at the door to the boy's dormitory, "Alohomora," she heard the faint click of the door unlocking and at once she knew she was successful. "Are you two coming yet?"
"Theo!" Daphne shouted, "Blaise come on down, we have presents."
But still, they didn't stir. "If you don't come down there will be consequences! I can smell Chocolate Frogs under the tree and Theo they have your name on," Astoria paced in place, "oh wow they are delicious!"
And that was enough to get Theo up and out of bed. He darted down the stairs, Blaise following closely behind him. "Are you joking me?" He looked over at where the tree was, "I bet I don't even have any Chocolate Frogs."
"Oh, you do," Daphne winked at him.
Blaise made his way over to the sofa, "you made us wake up and Pansy isn't even here yet! I won't stand for this!"
"I'll go and get her," Daphne called out, disappearing into the girl's dormitory.
Once everyone was in the Slytherin common room, Astoria finally had a chance to look at the decorations. Although the common room was usually draped with green ornaments, it seemed that today they were accompanied by golden stars.
By the fireplace was a tree unlike anything Astoria had ever seen before, it towered above her, spotted with golden stars that lit up the room. Alongside the light from the fireplace, Astoria felt at peace, the warm glow from the lights made her muscles all feel as though they could finally relax.
At the top of the tree stood an angel on pointe, spinning delicately around the top of the tree. It reminded her of when she too had wished to dance like that, she had wished to be as light as a feather when she moved.
"Who wants to go first?" She asked around to Pansy, Daphne, Blaise and Theo, looking at the pile of presents wrapped under the tree.
All of them muttered between one another, eventually turning to face Astoria, "why don't you go first?"
"Okay well, if you insist." Astoria had secretly wanted nothing less than to go first, giving presents was far more appealing to her than receiving them.
"Theo, here you go since I may have already told you what is inside," she handed him a selection of wrapped up Chocolate Frogs which he willingly accepted, biting into one almost instantly. "I got you and Blaise something that's the same too," she handed them each a small package.
Both of them ripped into the packages with little care for what could have been inside, but their mouths turned upwards. Inside was a small model of their broomsticks, the Thunderbolt VII sat in miniature form in their large hands.
"Wow Astoria!" Blaise exclaimed, toying with it in his hands.
Theo finished his mouthful of Chocolate Frog, "it looks just like my broomstick!"
Pansy shoved him, "for Merlin's sake, that is your broom!"
"Oh," he inspected it further, "well it does look quite like my broomstick."
"It should be identical," Astoria offered between chuckles at Theo's simple mind.
"Merlin, you and Blaise might just be some of the stupidest people I have ever met." Pansy stated, in such tone that Astoria was unsure if she was joking or not.
Daphne chimed in, "she's not wrong," she nudged them with a smile.
"Okay, Pansy now for your gifts," Astoria dove into the pile, selecting a large present and handing it over to her.
Pansy took far more care opening her gift than the boys, spending a solid minute unfolding one of the edges, until she revealed a silky robe with her name embroidered on the back. "Oh wow!" She exclaimed, lifting it up for a full inspection.
"I bet Blaise would want to see you in just that," Theo winked at her.
"Well I wouldn't want to see Blaise in just this, there is someone else who I am thinking of," her eyes wandered as her mind imagined a girl, she was all too familiar with.
"Oh Pansy has a crush!" Daphne smiled at her, leaning closer, "you will have to tell me and Astoria all about it later tonight! Okay, but now it's my turn, show me the money sister!"
Astoria handed her over a series of gifts, watching her eagerly as she opened them all.
First, Daphne opened up a perfume that smelt of vanilla beans and pine trees, her two favourite smells. "Astoria, I love it," she spritzed it into the air, causing Theo to cough loudly.
He choked, "lovely."
Daphne tugged at the wrapping paper of another much larger parcel, this time revealing a quilt that Astoria had spent hours hand stitching. It was covered in roses, a flower that brought a smile to the Greengrass sisters faces, a flower that reminded them of their mother whom they had lost prematurely. "Astoria, thank you," a tear sat in the corner of her eye as she embraced her sister.
"Right, no waterworks," Theo jumped down onto the floor taking a seat beside the tree as Astoria took his seat.
And for the next few hours, everything was good. Everyone shared gifts, laughing around the fireplace with chocolate and friends, it was exactly what Christmas was supposed to be about.
By the time everyone had opened their gifts, it was almost midday. "Okay, everyone go and get dressed before we go for lunch in the Great Hall, I'm just going to clear some of the rubbish up!" Astoria smiled as everyone made their way back up to their dorms.
She knew she shouldn't be using magic, but Astoria felt compelled to do so, "Deletrius." She called out, causing all of the wrapping and mess to vanish into thin air.
"I saw that!"
Astoria turned around, but there was nobody there. Inside the Slytherin common room, there was nobody but her.
"Turn around, I'm in here."
She turned back to the fireplace, and sat inside of it was her father's head, buried deep within the flames. Astoria felt her heart stop. "F-" she stuttered, "father?" She called out.
"Astoria, I need to be quick," he spoke in a hurried tone, "but you need to be ready, we are coming, and we are coming soon. In a few short weeks, the castle will be under our control."
Astoria couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Wait, please... What is happening?"
"The Dark Lord may be gone, but we remain loyal, the Greengrass family must stay loyal. Astoria, be ready." His voice began to fade, "Astoria I'm coming back, we all are."
Before Astoria could mutter a word in response, he was gone. Astoria was left with nothing but shock, and a secret. It was a secret she had promised only a few short days ago that she would tell others.
But it was a secret she couldn't tell. A secret that Astoria would keep inside her, one that would eat her up.