for the love that was not ready,
and bloomed too soon
between a sad boy and a broken girl,
who had no idea how to fix what couldn't be
catherine hancock
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THE RAIN WAS LOUD AGAINST the glass- stained windows. The bright colors became electric with the water; and under the cloudy sky, the colors spilled into the castle. The hallways seemed endless under the illumination. It all happened so quickly; the match- lightning- dementors- Harry Potter falling from the sky-
"That was a bit intense don't ya think?" Atlas broke the trios silent walk towards the kitchens, their breathing coalesced together. Astrid's footsteps left big splotchy puddles of muddy water on the ground, and her silver converse rubbed harshly against the marble floor. She didn't care to clean up the mess.
"Well, someone quite literally fell from the sky, Wood went mental, and what else- Oh yea, we're ahead of the gryffindors." Cedric said, failing to cover his excitement as he recalled the tournament board. For once in exactly seventeen years, hufflepuff had a lead compared to the gryffindor team. Astrid didn't care much for quidditch, she didn't understand the interest of the sport much either.
She spoke up timidly, or maybe it was just the rain that hushed her voice. "I never knew Wood could be that scary," she noted, her eyebrows still furrowed with surprise. "All over a game of quidditch too."
Oliver Wood was a seventh year, who was also a quidditch fanatic ( or maybe lunatic ), much like Cedric and Att. He adored the sport and not to forget, he was the gryffindor quidditch captain. The loss of the game must've hit him hard, he strode up to where the hufflepuff players were celebrating- to themselves mostly, and demanded a rematch. He accused all sorts of foul play, and throughout the whole scene his eyes were bloodshot red, angry tears streaming down his freckled face. He continued to yell obscenities, and only calmed down when threatened with elimination. How Cedric remained calm during the whole ordeal was quite impressive.
"Quidditch is important to him, more than most things at least." Cedric shrugged, Astrid just about close to hexing Wood when he had stopped her. Cedric reminded Astrid alot of the color blue. Far too cool to not be considered one of the best colors and definitely loved by too many people. If the color blue was a person he would be two years older, with green-flecked hazel eyes, and dirty blond hair. Just like Cedric.
Horrible analogy really.
Atlas rolled his eyes, "It's not like the game wasn't fair though." He grabbed the winning golden snitch from Cedric, tossing it back and forth, the gold ball contrasted the flamboyant walls. "Y'know if you fell from the clouds he wouldn't care any less."
Atlas was right, Astrid knew if anyone but Harry Potter had fallen, the castle wouldn't have found it nearly as vigorously enticing. But stuff like that never happens to anyone but Potter. Atlas never shied away from sharing his thoughts, though he wasn't as sociable and talkative as Cedric. In fact, Atlas was very timid, almost as much as Astrid when not around the two. He never found interest in finding any other friends- much less acquaintances that weren't Cedric and Astrid. He stayed where he was comfortable; with Cedric or with Astrid. And most times, best of all, with both.
"D'you think he'll be alright?" Astrid asked, her eyelashes still had small beads of water on them. "Harry?"
Cedric nodded, "He always is, isn't he?"
This wasn't unusual for them, Cedric was possibly the biggest gossip in Europe. He dragged Astrid as soon as he spotted her with Atlas and began telling her- In immense detail what had just went down with Wood. And of course, Atlas was just as big of a gossip, he dramatically commentated the whole story. But, she couldn't shake off that comment, did her best friends not like Harry Potter? And if so, why didn't she know? They knew what had happened during Black's attack, and their pursed lips every-time he was mentioned did not go unnoticed.
Astrid had far to many questions, but as they neared the kitchen door she decided against voicing them.
"Well the apple looks more ticklish than the pear, doesn't it?" Atlas remarked, Cedric had unsurprisingly forgotten the kitchen password. "Or maybe the grapes, Salazar, why can't hufflepuffs have their passwords as simple as their lives"
"Atlas," Cedric warned. He was a hufflepuff. "I'm trying to think."
"No one's stopping you," Atlas muttered, his eyebrows furrowed.
Cedric was right, he tickled the pear and the door magically slid open. Inside, was a kitchen that rivaled that of a three star michellin restaurant. Metal stoves and freezers lined one of the walls, and on the other, endless shelfs filled with any and all foods, spices, desserts you could think of. There was a small rug in the corner of the room, one that thankfully Ernie put in once he had the courage to befriend the elves. The house elves were busy cleaning the infinite amount of countertops as dinner was coming to an end. They were small, very annoying of sorts, little elves. Astrid tolerated them but she felt they were too pressing and she didn't like that they didn't talk properly. She couldn't hold a conversation with the Hogwarts house elves like she could her own.
Dotty, Cedrics new found best-friend was more than happy to attend to them. She led them to the carpeted corner with a smile ( Astrid assumed it was a smile ). Taking quick notes about what they would like, before she scurried away into the vast kitchen. Astrid didn't ask for much, just two slices of cheesecake with strawberries on top. She loved strawberries.
Much to her displeasure, early conversation mainly consisted of quidditch and boy things. Sometimes she wished she could relate to them more, they were older than her- Though Atlas only a year and ten months.
"I'm sure!" Cedric exclaimed eating his rice cakes. "All the secret meetings, my da watching old tapes of plays. The world cup is happening again."
Atlas didn't look too convinced. He shook his head, "It was a disaster last time, I don't think they would risk that again." The last world cup had occurred almost eight years ago, with so many people in attendance the stands toppled over. Ireland had won already, but the causalities caused the game to be disqualified and following world cup to be canceled.
Cedric was beginning to get annoyed by Atlas' disbelief. "I'm not lying!" he said, "Who d'you think will make finals? My bets on Bulgaria."
"How in the world do you sit through hour long games." Astrid spoke up, her voice was uninterested. She had strawberry jam smeared on her face. "Quidditch is so-"
Atlas held a napkin to her face as to shush her and clean the jam. "Stop," he interrupted, ignoring her glare.
She scowled, pushing his hand aside. "Can we talk about something else then," she protested. "Anything else, please."
"Well since you said please." Cedric had a charming smile, it was taunting. Astrid hated it. She glared at him as he ate one of the muggle candies she always carried with her. Ever since starting muggle studies, she became obsessed with the many types of sweets muggles enjoyed.
She crossed her arms, clearly irritated. "Manners are very important," she replied, her voice mirroring that of a know-it-all. She felt a bothering ache is her stomach bubbling, maybe she had sick from the cold weather.
Cedric shook his head, his smile still present. How she tolerated these two on a daily basis was a complete mystery. "You've been hanging out with Granger way too much," Atlas laughed, his eyes trained on taking out the blueberries from his blueberry pancakes. Though Astrid seemed to have finally grown too weary of this feeling sprouting in her, she watched him a smile definitely not present on her face.
"Sid, it was a just joke," Cedric said hesitantly watching her face contort into displeasure.
"I know, I know," Astrid replied, shaking her head. Why was she suddenly feeling so ill? "I just remembered I have something to give to McGonagall." She pocketed the rest of candy, using her arm to stand herself up.
"Astrid, it's past curfew, she'll probably send you to Azkaban."
"No, it's important I swear." She wanted to throw up. She gave Cedric a quick hug as she stood up and waved goodbye to Atlas in-front of her. The kitchen was now empty, other than the three of them. Sparkly clean pots and pans surrounded them and the lantern had dimmed over time. The yellowed light barely made her face visible, so thankfully they couldn't see just how sick she had become. Why? she still had no idea.
Atlas shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed, "We'll walk you! Remember I'm a prefect."
"It's not your turn for rounds. Promise, I'll be fine," she said, walking towards the kitchen door, "Really, I'll see you guys tomorrow, bright and early!"
She didn't look back as they protested, and with her hands in her pockets, holding the stash of muggle candy, she disappeared through the cream doors, without so much as a glance.
Confusion is all she felt as she walked away, it was clear in her cautious steps and the constant toying with her curls. The castle was empty, it was unsettling. She didn't like big spaces much less big old spaces. Astrid walked through the now dark halls, it was still raining outside, though the thunder had subsided. She was careful not to be too loud, deadly afraid of being caught. Astrid didn't like breaking the rules by herself, she felt uneasy turning every corner and going up every staircase. A few times she was told off by the paintings but she shrugged them off; the sick feeling was growing stronger and she wanted to know why. Astrid was awfully curious. She did not like not knowing things.
Walking slowly and as quietly as possible, Astrid continued on for what felt like hours. She still didn't know why she wanted to throw up, maybe she the rain did indeed get her sick. But that couldn't be, Astrid only got sick right before spring and early september. It was late november. Her silver converse made small taps against the floor every now and then, and her hands were full of candies. Astrid was so focused on figuring out the unknown that she didn't even realize she had come to a halt, her body had stopped right before the hospital wing doors; the large oak doors with carved detailing around the edges seemed to call out for her.
No, no leave.
Her body must've taken over somewhat unconsciously, she pushed open the large doors as quietly as she could, and began walking inside the dark medical room.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Astrid called out into the dark, but she received no response.
What am I doing? Astrid finally had an actual thought, she seemed to have been brought back to reality. There was no way Pomfrey would treat her at this hour, if anything she would be sent straight back to bed. She stopped abruptly, the candies in her pockets making unwanted noise. She cringed, before cautiously looking up only to see a bespectacled boy staring right back at her.
"What are you doing?" Harry Potter whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. He was laying down on the bed farthest to the right. Astrid couldn't quite see his face; the hospital wing didn't have good lighting. She really had to stop running into the poor boy like this. "Astrid?" he asked, still awaiting an answer.
Astrid took a deep breath, this was beyond humiliating. "I um- I think I have a stomach bug."
Astrid couldn't see but Harry was amused. He hoped she wouldn't bring up the match. "Stomach bugs are a muggle thing."
"Stomach bugs are a human thing." Astrid rolled her eyes.
Harry sat up, he tried to not show his discomfort at the movement but Astrid noticed. She pretended not to. "Maybe it's all the candy."
"I haven't eaten any of it."
"Then why do you have two handfuls of it?"
Astrid looked down towards her hands, she had a variety of candy. Mostly everything was strawberry flavored. "To be completely honest," she began, looking back up to Harry, or at least what she hoped to be his eyes, "I always carry these with me."
"Well then the bug cant be that big of a surprise." Maybe it was because it was so late at night, or maybe he had finally gained an ounce of confidence while in her presence. Hoping for the best, Harry decided to act boldly for possibly the first time in his life. "Do you plan to at least share?" he asked, catching her by surprise. Harry could see Astrid clearly, one of the few windows faced her directly, allowing the moonlight to seep into her features. She was pretty, he thought for the thousandth time again.
Astrid was caught off guard, she wasn't planning on staying, much less sharing. But against her better judgement she walked closer to the bed beside his, pouring the candy onto the light blue sheets. They had a fair distance, enough to be able to pass the candy and that was perfect for Harry. Astrid sat on the side of the bed, facing him. The bed was rather uncomfortable and her legs dangled inches away from the cold floor.
"Why'd you do that?" Harry asked suddenly, his face turning to the vase beside him. The once daisy flowers had been transfigured into beautiful pink and white lilies.
Astrid shrugged putting her wand away. "For the irony of course." Content with Harry's amused reaction she added, "I'm allergic to daisies. It's deathly." Now closer, Astrid could see Harry more clearly. He had a cast on his arm- like her cousin had just months ago. His scar peaked through his messy raven hair, and his glasses had cracks around the rims. He had deep bags under his eyes, the glasses didn't cover them much.
"Is it really?" Harry asked concerned. He wasn't allergic to anything- except being around Draco. Their feud was well known around the castle.
"No."
Harry looked at her incredulously. He wanted to laugh, but fought against it. She smiled almost all the time, he noticed. Not necessarily towards anyone just in general; Astrid always had a soft smile. He liked it. "Anything else you're allergic too?" he continued the conversation, not wanting her to leave.
Astrid thought for a second, opening a strawberry filled bon-bon from the pile. "No, I don't think so," she replied unsure. "Chocolate?"
Harry accepted the MARS chocolate bar, he looked at her curiously. "Do you like muggle candy?"
"From muggle studies," she mentioned to the pile of candies that Harry could now see were all muggle candies. "But I don't really like chocolate ."
"Then why do you have chocolate bars?"
"Cedric likes them." she shrugged. "Plus, I think I want to become Lupin when I'm older." The professor was widely know to carry chocolate on him at all times. Since Astrid had begun attending his classes again, she deemed to find him tolerable. Her judgement still clouded by the boggart lesson.
Harry glanced at her again, hiding his slight jealously that threatened to surface. He ate his chocolate bar as she ate her strawberry candy. Astrid intrigued him, the past three years he had known almost nothing about her- only what Hermione mentioned. And now all of sudden, this year he has had over three encounters with her and yet, he was still as confused as ever. Harry didn't know why Astrid out of all people, and he didn't know why he felt his body go limp every time she was near. He succumbed it up to a childhood crush. Something he could easily get over, but still, it had been three years and he wanted nothing more than to get to know her. Astrid was pretty, he thought again glancing at her as she traced her fingers along the designs on the light blue sheets.
"Was it scary?"
"What falling from the clouds?" Harry blushed suddenly realizing how overbearing that probably sounded. "At the match I mean."
Astrid laughed, though she only showed one dimple. Had Harry made her laugh hard enough to show both on Halloween? He decided yes, blushing harder than before. "Yes, Harry at the match. You don't have to answer-"
"Were you there?" Astrid shook her head, she didn't like quidditch. "Well, yes... It was I guess.
And I- well I dunno, it sort of felt freeing. When I woke up here I felt the most awake I've felt in a while."
Astrid listened intently, she was a great listener. "You can't play the next match, right?"
Harry looked downcast. "That's what Madam Pomfrey said, but I have amazing persuasion skills." He imitated.
Astrid laughed once again, how her mood had changed was truly impressive. "Be original please Potter. It's not a flattery."
It was Harry's turn to laugh. "Harry," he corrected.
Astrid smiled kindly. Why she felt so drawn to him all of sudden she didn't know. They were acquaintances, nothing more. She liked his acquaintance. "Is it short for anything?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Is Astrid short for anything?"
Astrid smiled, both her dimples were showing. Harry was beginning to make a list of every-time he saw them. "Yes actually. well actually- not really. I just like the meaning of it."
"What is it?"
"You know how my whole family is named after stars?" Astrid began, content with the interest that Harry displayed, "Actually you didn't know that, but now you do. Well, my name isn't a star name, weirdly enough. It just comes from a star name, but really has nothing to do with the stars."
"What does it mean then?"
Astrid smiled, tilted her head to the side. "That is for me to know and no one else."
Harry laughed once again, causing Astrid dimples to deepen. "You look like an Emily."
Astrid's smile dropped, she looked offended. "Certainly not," she replied sharply. "I can't even make up a different name for you, yours is already boring enough."
Harry kept his bright smile, "Jokes Sid."
Astrid didn't like the joke. "You cannot call me that."
"Why not?"
"Because I said so," retorted Astrid. Only two people were allowed to call her that awful nickname. She was eating berry flavored jelly beans.
Harry leaned forward to grab a jelly bean from the carton, his pain very poorly concealed. Astrid met him in the middle of both beds, pulling back once he grabbed a handful. "Why not?" he asked again.
"Because everyone but you can call me that."
"So what do you expect me to call you? Asteroid?"
Astrid looked displeased. "Harry that wasn't a funny joke," she pursed her lips. "Just call me Astrid."
"It was funny," he protested. "Plus, I'm not daft-"
"Hard to believe but go on."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Alright Astrid. You do know you've had strawberry jam on your face this whole time right?"
Astrid reached up to her cheeks, and sure enough she had jam on her face! "You couldn't of told me sooner?" she asked him, annoyed.
Harry shrugged. "We're not on nickname basis. It didn't feel right."
Astrid rolled her eyes, shielding her smile under a napkin she had conjured. "What happened to the Harry that wouldn't ever talk?" she asked wistfully.
"Hmm... Must be all the medicine."
"Well bring him back please."
Harry pretended to think before meeting his eyes with Astrids. Emerald green and winter grey. "I don't think I will."
"So what you're going to drug yourself everyday?"
Harry shrugged, "I guess so."
Astrid laughed, both her dimples deepening and her rosy lips parting in a smile. Three times Harry noted. In short time, maybe an hour, Harry had learned more about her than he had in the past two years. He needed to know more, his mind was euphoric. Maybe it was the chocolate or just her; he didn't know. Harry couldn't wait to tell Ron about what had happened. Or maybe he would keep it to himself. No, he just wouldn't mention her dimples, he liked to believe not many people knew she had two and he had been lucky. He had been so lucky.
Astrid looked at Harry once again, he was kind. She didn't feel that sick feeling anymore, actually she realized that the feeling had come to pass as soon as she entered the medical ward. Maybe it was the candy, or the smell of medicine, or maybe the uncomfortable beds. Nothing else right?
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writing harry and astrid is so easy
atlas and cedric on the other hand...