"reaching out across the sea"
It worked in shifts- each student took a six-hour shift, carrying around the map and watching it for new information.
When it came to Astoria's shift, she held the map under her desk in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, watching it intently.
"So, as we were covering Dementors last week, I thought it would make sense to discuss a similar creature, a Lethifold," Professor Belby began, Astoria barely listening. "Now, can anyone tell me what a Lethifold is?
Hermione Granger spoke first, "a Lethifold, commonly referred to as a Living Shroud, is similar in shape to a Dementor. They are carnivorous and particularly difficult to fend off."
"Excellent answer." Professor Belby nodded, "10 points to Granger."
"How is it different to a Dementor?" Ginny piped up, "do they look different?"
"Great question Miss Weasley. Yes, they do," he nodded again, "a Dementor is much taller, they also have a protruding skeleton, so you can see their bony body. But a Lethifold, does not have this," he waved his wand on the chalkboard, creating images with each movement. "A Lethifold, is instead much shorter and they are instead, just a cloak. My great-great-great grandfather Flavius Belby, described them as having a thick cloak, much thicker than that of a Dementor."
"I have him on a Chocolate Frog card," Theo said quietly to Astoria. "He isn't the best card though."
Astoria barely heard him, instead watching intently as each name moved around the map.
"If they are similar to a Dementor, are they also repelled by a Patronus Charm?" Hermione questioned him, scrawling quickly yet neatly diagrams on her parchment.
"Excellent, yes they are! If only great-great-great grandfather Flavius Belby had discovered that slightly sooner! He was lucky to make it out in time." Professor Belby began writing the incantation on the board, "so you're all familiar with the Patronus Charm, I believe Mr Potter taught many of you how to conjure a Patronus...." He trailed off, looking to the students for a response.
Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs all nodded, the Slytherin students looking awkwardly around at each other.
"Would have been nice to be included in that one." Theo said, frowning.
Astoria thought back to her lesson with Granger and her failure. "Theo," she kept her voice quiet, "come with me after the lesson, okay?" She remembered all those months ago how he had wanted to be taught by Hermione when she offered, and how Astoria had neglected to tell him about her private lessons.
"Sure." He nodded along, doodling on his parchment.
She peered back to the map, before glancing up at the clock. "Your turn Pansy," she handed her the map, "be careful."
"I know what to do Astoria." Pansy reassured her, taking the map and sliding it under the desk.
Astoria let herself relax for the rest of the lesson, barely paying attention as Professor Belby as he went off on a tangent about his relative's life story.
As soon as the lesson ended, Astoria turned around to talk to Hermione. "Hermione," she smiled at her, "do you think we could have another lesson?"
"Oh yes!" Hermione beamed, "I was hoping you would want another one soon! It feels just like doing the DA again! I have a free right now if you wanted?" She packed up her bag, following Astoria as she made her way out of the classroom.
"Astoria, are we going on some kind of secret date, because I am not-" Theo paused, glancing at the pair walking out of the classroom, "oh, hi Hermione."
"Hello Theo, are you joining us?"
Theo looked expectantly at Astoria, "am I?"
"Yes, you are."
"Right, let's go up to the Heads Common Room!" Hermione led the pair excitedly around the castle.
"Astoria," Theo grabbed her gown, "what the fuck is going on?"
She hushed him, "you'll like it."
"If this is going where I think it is, I do not want to see this!" He stopped in his tracks.
"Relax," Hermione turned around to face him, "I'm going to teach you something."
But that hardly put him at ease, "what does that mean?"
Astoria laughed as they walked into the Heads Common Room.
"Merlin this is nice!" He exclaimed, pacing around the large room.
"That's what Astoria said too! Is your common room not this nice?" Hermione made her way over to the Boggart chest.
"We have the dungeons Granger, it's not particularly nice. Now," he took a seat on a sofa, "what am I doing here?"
"I am going to teach you how to cast a Patronus."
Theo's mouth fell open, "really? A proper one?"
"Absolutely a proper one." Hermione nodded at him, "Astoria has already had a lesson with me."
"And I thought you might like to join," added Astoria.
"So," he crossed his legs, pulling out his wand, "where do we start?"
"Glad to see you enthusiastic," Hermione said, sitting down beside him and beckoning Astoria to join her. "We should start with a recap; it's been a little while since our first lesson. When you conjure a Patronus, you need a happy memory. It must be strong enough to repel all the darkness that the Dementors bring. But it doesn't have to be real, and for some people, it isn't even happy. It has to just be powerful."
"Powerful," Theo nodded, "got it."
"It might seem odd, but it's good to do some visualisation first. Close your eyes," she instructed them, watching as they shut their eyes quickly, "picture your memory. Really place yourself in it, what can you hear? Smell? Taste? Touch? Feel?" She let them sit with the memory for a few short moments, "now take out your wand and start to draw circles with it, the stronger the circles, the stronger the spell."
Theo and Astoria both let themselves get lost in their memories, their wands drawing circles in the air.
"And then you just say the incantation, Expecto Patronum." She glanced at them, watching as they both swayed in their memory, "give it a go."
Astoria was back on the beach with her mother, the sand against her skin, the salty air entering her lungs. "Expecto Patronum." She opened her eyes, just in time to see a tiny silver stream exit the tip of her wand.
"Amazing Astoria!" Hermione patted her on the back! "Theo?" She looked at him expectantly.
"Got it," he nodded, closing his eyes. "Expecto Patronum-no!" He knew it hadn't worked before he even opened his eyes, "I can do this, no worries." He let himself truly get lost in his memory, trying again, and then again, and again, until finally, a thin stream of the silver charm let his wand. Theo yelped, "I bloody did it!"
"That's incredible Theo!" Astoria exclaimed as she saw it.
"Well done!" Hermione stood up walking over to the chest, "now we can move up a level?" She looked at both Theo and Astoria who nodded at her eagerly. "I have a Boggart in the chest, Astoria already had a go last time..."
"Yeah, it didn't go so well for me." Astoria added, recalling the event.
"It's no challenge for me!" Theo beamed, "I want to try."
"Okay, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't work, it took me a few goes before I did my first full Patronus. Astoria, you first?"
Astoria stood up; she wasn't entirely sure if it was a question. "Okay."
"Remember to think about your memory fully, let yourself fully immerse in the memory, and then... circles and the spell." Hermione instructed her, "Theo you might want to step back a bit." He stepped back quickly, making his way to the other side of the room. "Astoria, remember I believe in you."
She smiled, readying herself. "I'm ready," she let herself fully sink into the memory, resting on her mother, breathing in the salty air, her mother's rose perfume. She watched as Hermione lifted the lid of the chest and the Dementor flew out. "Expecto Patronum!" Astoria yelled, "Expecto Patronum!" She screamed with all her might, watching a small stream left her wand and began to form some kind of body shape. "Holy," but as she spoke, her concentration faltered and the Patronus began to shrink, its brightness rapidly fading.
"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione stepped in front of her, a blue and silver otter jumping from her wand and sending the Dementor away.
"Merlin Astoria!" Theo said from the other side of the room.
Astoria had almost forgotten that he had been there, she had been too lost in the power of her Patronus. "I did it... well a bit. Did you see that?"
"Astoria that's incredible!"
"And I didn't even faint this time," she curtseyed sarcastically. "Right, Theo your turn!"
"Merlin, am I going to faint?"
Hermione nodded at him, "quite possibly. But we'll be here, and nobody gets it first time!"
"Let me just step on up then," him and Astoria swapped places, Theo readying his wand as Hermione prepared herself by the Boggart. He took a deep breath and let his memory take him away. "Bring it." Hermione opened up the chest and the Dementor flew out. Theo gulped, "shit." Up close he realised how much worse it was, the Dementor was huge, grey bony fingers protruding from its dark veil. "Expecto Patronum!" He shouted with all his might, but it wasn't strong enough. He tried and he tried, but the memory was fading, and quickly, he fell to the floor with a thud.
"Merlin," Hermione stepped up, taking care of the Dementor and rushing over to check on Theo.
"Theo?" Astoria asked him, tapping his shoulder.
Theo blinked his eyes slowly, "don't tell anyone about this!" He warned before he had even sat himself up. "But I felt good, just a couple more goes, and we will have this Astoria."
"Absolutely," Hermione smiled at them, "you two are doing great. Let me just get you some chocolate, it's a short-term remedy for how crappy you probably feel."
"Only thing bruised is my ego," he said when she returned with a bar of chocolate. "I'm sure the chocolate will make me feel a lot better."
"Maybe I might need some too." Astoria placed her hand on her forehead, feigning ill.
Hermione chuckled, breaking off a small part of the chocolate for each of them. "You did good."
Astoria and Theo smiled at each other, taking a seat on the sofa. "I feel good." Astoria took a bite of the chocolate, smiling.
"Me too. Thank you, Hermione." Theo said sincerely.
Hermione blushed, her face glowing coral, "any time. And I think we only need a few more lessons and you two will have this. Just let me know when you need another lesson. But not too often, I am not failing my NEWTS!"
The Slytherin students smiled, they had barely even thought about their NEWTS since coming back to Hogwarts, but it didn't matter. "I probably will, but who cares." Theo said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm not too sure how things will go." Astoria had barely even thought about her NEWTS, but she knew if things got worse with her father, it wasn't looking up.
"We ought to go, check on...you know...." Theo trailed off, scoffing awkwardly to fill the blanks.
Astoria had let herself forget, but the stark reminder made her shake. She took a final bite of her chocolate, "oh... yes."
"Thank you, Hermione, really."
Hermione smiled them out of the Head Common Room, "I'll see you soon."
Theo and Astoria stalked through the castle and made the long walk to the dungeons.
"Don't tell the others about that," Astoria said, clutching her sleeve, "I know Pansy wasn't too keen on the idea a few months ago."
"As long as you don't tell them about me fainting," he smiled at her, "we can keep each other's secrets."
"Sounds like a plan."
It took them a while to reach the common room, but by the time they did, everyone was waiting for them.
"Astoria!" Her sister shouted once she saw her sister, taking her into a firm hug, "thank god!"
"Have I missed something?" Theo looked around the common room, "why are we hugging."
"Look at the map." Draco handed him the red map, highlighting the Armoury, "just look."
And look they did. Astoria pulled away from the hug and averted her attention to the map.
Highlighted in red, pacing in the Armoury were three names.
Emelda Zabini, Perseus Parkinson and Adrian Greengrass.