in her anger she could shun me
using the most vile language to exist. yet,
i will envy the words for having belonged
to her
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THIS HAS TO BE THE VERY worst idea anyone could've ever come up with. With no plan, no preparation, and not even a single care for the rest of the sleeping castle, Astrid and Harry very stupidly decided to become ghost-hunters. Any drop of common sense that either of the two shared, vanished as they ran through the corridors- Astrid trailing slightly behind Harry, both foolishly following the skiddish footsteps of someone they both know to be dead: Peter Pettigrew.
Neither cared for the loud Plats! and Clanks! coming from their running footsteps, and Astrid's silver converse definitely didn't help. With Harry's hand gripping onto her arm, she followed him- completely out of breath, but still, with curiosity fueling her and clouding her better judgement, she allowed Harry to drag her on this silly ghost hunt. Their steps became quieter as they both slowed down, according to the map Pettigrew's footsteps were growing increasingly close to theirs. Ignoring the annoyed paintings and the pattering of her heart, she continued to follow Harry as he dragged her by her arm. Although she tried not to show it, she was frightened. She kept her eyes on Harry, as if he would somehow in someway manage to protect her from whatever they would encounter. She couldn't see his face clearly but the hand holding the map was slightly trembling and he used his mouth to hold up his wand for light. Though, like the map, his wand also had a slight shake to it.
"Harry," Astrid whispered, her voice cold and distant. She was uncomfortable and scared. "What will you do if he's actually there?"
They both came to a halt in their hunt, and for once that entire evening, Astrid had finally asked a logical question. What would actually end up happening if two thirteen-year-olds come face-to-face with someone widely known to be dead? "Er-" Harry started, his grip on her arm loosening. "I guess, well first, rub our eyes to make sure he's real. And then I'll swipe my hand through him to double check."
Astrid tried to laugh but she couldn't. "Harry," she reprimanded, shaking her head lightly. She wouldn't admit she was scared, much less to Harry Potter who she was barley acquaintances with. She looked at him through her dark lashes, her eyes easily readable under the yellow light emitted from Harry's wand.
Harry watched her, his eyes boring into hers. He could tell she was scared, hell, he was too. "I'm sorry," he said, his hand dropping dangerously close to hers. He was loosely gripping her wrist. "If we actually see Pettigrew I'll petrify him. Or maybe you can transfigure him into something, I know your good at that- McGonagall showed us how you decorated for Christmas."
Astrid glanced between his eyes, looking for anything that showed her that he was being genuine. She couldn't find it. "Alright," she said, shaking his hand off her wrist. "Lead the way."
"We can go back," Harry said instantly, his voice a whisper. He kept his green eyes on her as she stared at everything but him. "Astrid." He called out for her.
And for the second time in his life, Harry saw actual fear in Astrid's eyes as she finally grew the courage to look up at him. "We already came all this way," she replied, doubt etched into her voice.
"We can always go back-" he repeated.
Astrid ignored him, and this time she lead the way. She grabbed his hand, and holding it as tight as she could, they made their way forward. The tall corridors seemed to be almost eating them alive as they continued, eerie echos followed their footsteps, and their shadows stretched up to the crown-molding that decorated the ceilings. Astrid imagined what Pettigrew might look like in attempts to ward her mind off her growing fear. She pictured him with glasses, and maybe tall and lean. Or maybe he was short and walked with a limp. And then she imagined his voice, it came to her like Trewlaneys- spirt like.
"What finger do you think he's missing?" Harry asked, a lame attempt to mend the silence. He had passed the map to Astrid and with the hand not holding onto hers, he held his wand. The light emitting a yellowish glow onto their tired faces.
Astrid kept her eyes on the map, she carefully guided them into the next corridor. "He's missing his index finger, Harry." She replied absentmindedly.
"You're saying that like you know."
Astrid furrowed her eyebrows, still not looking up from the map. "I'm saying that because I do know."
"How would you- How do you even know Pettigrew?" He asked, confused.
"I don't."
"Well clearly you do," Harry said sarcastically. A part of him didn't want Astrid to know about what he had found out in the Three Broomsticks. He wanted her to blissfully unaware about the things that haunted him.
Astrid sighed. "As unreal as this may sound, newspapers exist Harry. And believe it or not, they're actually quite informative," she said, turning into the next corridor.
"I didn't know you could read."
Astrid looked at him and the teasing grin plastered on his face. She tried her hardest to keep herself from smiling. "Oh, you've caught me," she replied mockingly, "I'm illiterate and stupid and honestly I've been taking us in circles because I can't even start to understand this map!"
Harry shook his head. "I knew this corridor looked familiar," he quipped.
Astrid rolled her eyes, biting her bottom lip as her smile was becoming more and more apparent. She looked up at him feigning annoyance, "Why don't you lead the way, Shakespeare?"
He gladly accepted the map, "Y'know David Bowie is illiterate. Nothing to be ashamed of."
"Who's that?" Astrid asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Momentarily stunned, Harry had to catch his breath, he looked at Astrid- His expression mirrored that of a constipated deer, she thought. "You know Shakespeare but not the greatest genius of all time?" he asked and to his great surprise she still showed no sign of recognizing David Bowie. "Astrid- You have to be joking," he sputtered. "Do you live under a rock?"
"Professor Carlton has only gotten to the tragedies," said Astrid, very matter-of-factly. "Shakespeare, Marilyn Monroe, the demise of the Roman Empire, he hasn't once mentioned David Boo-ey"
"Lady grinning soul is the biggest tragedy of this world!" Harry replied, shaking his head. "Dumbledore should really start doing thorough background checks on these teachers. Actually, not only will I teach you how to read, I'll also make sure you learn every word to every song on Aladdin Sane."
Astrid had no clue what in the world Aladdin Sane was but still, she nodded along finding his passion on this David Bowie quite funny. "Make a list so he'll know what to look for."
Harry gave her a lopsided grin, "Y'know you might think this is funny, but I'm already making the list in my head... Not that you would be able to read it anyways," he added, jokingly.
Her dimples deepened and she tried desperately to avoid his infectious smile. Failing, she let a foolish grin take over her face, her grey eyes glistening under the light that illuminated them. "Harry the map," Astrid said softly, he seemed to have completely forgotten why they were in the middle of a first floor corridor in the first place. Astrid didn't blame him for forgetting all about Peter Pettigrew, as for in those few minutes she had as well.
Harry seemed almost dejected remembering why Astrid was even with him. He looked back down at the map and to his surprise, the footsteps of Peter Pettigrew had passed them seconds ago! He pulled Astrid close to him as he waved his wand in-front of them. Slowly he circled around Astrid ignoring the angry cries of the portraits but there didn't seem to be anyone there. The map must be wrong, he thought. But the map has never been wrong before.
"What's wrong?" Astrid asked tentatively. He passed her map wordlessly, still cautiously looking around at their surroundings. She watched as Pettigrew's name passed the corridors they had just been in. She realized that he must've somehow slipped passed them. But before she could ponder the revival of a dead person, she saw a pair of footsteps belonging to Severus Snape heading directly towards them. "Harry, Snape!" she said urgently, "Mischief managed," she whispered hiding the yellowed map behind her back
Harry muttered a quick 'Nox' and they were left in complete darkness, the only comfort they had was the sound of their rapid heartbeats that overlapped each other. Astrid kept her eyes closed, silently hoping they wouldn't get caught.
Clearly, Astrid had zero luck today because seconds later there was a flash of light and suddenly her potions professor was inches away from them, his surprise poorly hidden at the sight of her. Snape's sneer seemed to be permanently indented onto his face. "Potter and Lestrange," he drawled, his voice cold as always. "What are you two doing wandering the halls after curfew?"
"Sleepwalking sir," Harry replied. Astrid was dumbfounded once he closed his eyes and put his arms up, trying to imitate a mummy. Right then she knew they were done for.
Snape's scowl deepened, he looked at Harry with more disdain than usual. "Don't try to humor me Potter," he said, protruding his wand closer to their faces- Harry's mostly. "As arrogant as your father you seem to be. He too was pain to be near. Strutting around the castle, always creating a disturbance."
"My dad didn't strut, and nor do I," Harry defied, ignoring the pain he felt after Astrid elbowed him. "Now if you don't mind I'd appreciate it if you'd lower your wand. Wouldn't you too, Astrid?"
"Harry for once, shut up," Astrid muttered harshly, trying her best to not hex him into oblivion. She was definitely done for, Snape would surely give her detentions for the rest of her Hogwarts years.
Snape stared suspiciously at the two, but nonetheless he lowered his wand. Astrid tried not to cower under his scrutinizing glare, not like she could anyway, she was practically pushed against Harry's chest. "Show me your hands Lestrange," he waited expectantly as Astrid hestatinly placed her hands up to the light. One holding the map, the other balled up into a fist, her nails piercing into her palm. "Give me that," Snape said harshly, snatching the map from her hands.
"And what's this?" he questioned, turning the blank paper in his hands.
"Spare bit of parchment," Harry replied with a shrug.
"How very funny," If looks could kill, Harry would've probably died over a thousand times already. Snape continued looking at the paper with doubt. "Well then you wont mind if I-" he made a move to rip the paper in half.
"NO!" they both said at once.
"No?"
Astrid felt her heart hammering out of chest. "Professor, it's just, I- I've recently picked up the hobby of drawing and random creative spurs come to me during times like these! So I thought it would be best to keep parchment on me just in case-"
"Your creative spurs come to you during what seems like- against the rules, late night romantic walks?"
Astrid looked scandalized at the idea that this could be seen as a romantic walk. She laughed uncharacteristically, "I'll show you!"
She took the wrinkled paper and reached for a pen in her sweater when suddenly the map slowly began to fill with a dark ink. And to her horror, the ink arranged itself into an awful drawling depicting Snape sobbing at a white bottle, shampoo stamped onto it. His long hair glistening with highlights that no doubt insinuated that his hair was greasy. She heard Harry snort from behind her, and in any other situation Astrid would've laughed too but she feared never seeing daylight again. "Oh Merlin no," she whispered, looking down in panic.
Snape pursed his lips. "Let me see this," he snarled, taking the map back. His nostrils flared as he stared at the taunting depiction. "Enough of this foolishness! Clearly this is full of dark magic." He angrily pointed his wand at the parchment- Astrid was scared he might even pierce a hole through it. "Reveal your secrets!" he said.
For a second, Astrid thought the map was showing itself, but instead words began to appear below the picture as if being written by an invisible hand:
Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other peoples business.
But it didn't stop there. Astrid's horror turned into amazement as more writing appeared below:
Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.
Snape looked like a fish out of water, he stared at the paper in disgust, his ears practically blowing out smoke. The edges of the parchment crumpled under his grip.
Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever become a Professor.
Astrid hoped this was a bad dream, there was no way Snape wouldn't send them both six feet under after this stunt. And finally the map had one last thing to say:
Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slime ball...
Snape was a ball of fury once the map had finally finished it's skit on him. "You insubordinate, little-"
"Professor Snape!" Lupin had appeared out of the dark. All of Astrid's resentment had suddenly washed away, she stared at him pleadingly, hoping that he would save them. "Is everything alright, Harry? Astrid?"
Snape turned towards Lupin, handing him the parchment. "Obviously not," he snarled. "Not only were these two out after curfew but they seem to be carrying an artifact that clearly is carrying all sorts of dark magic. Isn't that you're area of expertise, Lupin. Take a look for yourself..."
Professor Lupin tentatively grabbed the parchment, a soft smile on his a face as he viewed the drawing and read the insults. He looked to be amused as he read. "Well, this seems to merely be a parchment that insults whoever reads it, Professor Snape. Childish, sure, but certainly not dangerous. I presume you've gotten from Zonko's-"
"Yes!" Astrid interupted. "Atlas bought it for me and I've been carrying it around as a laugh."
Snape narrowed his eyes, "What happened to your interest in drawing, Ms. Lestrange?"
"Er- Must've grabbed this one by accident, y'know thinking it was just a regular piece of parchment-"
"Silence! Your lies are as ridiculous as this drawling." Much to Astrid's dismay, she found out he was under the impression that she somehow drew him without her pen ever touching the parchment.
Harry glared at Professor Snape, "You asked and she answered!"
But before Snape could give Harry or Astrid detentions to last them a lifetime, Lupin very calmly diffused the tension, "Now, Snape, one can never be too careful. And as you said, this is my area of expertise, so I shall investigate what dark magic could be lingering." Astrid was sure she heard sarcasm in his voice. "Harry, Astrid I suggest you follow me back to the gryffindor tower, you both have classes tomorrow and I assure you tomorrow wont be very enjoyable if you aren't well rested."
"But we don't even have classes tomorrow," Harry muttered confused.
Lupin pursed his lips at how loud and seemingly oblivious Harry was. He leaned down so that only they would hear him, "I don't think he's realized that- go."
Astrid was the first to move past Snape, and next went Harry and then Professor Lupin. The walk back to the tower was silent, an occasional awkward glance was passed between Astrid and Harry but neither made a motion to speak. It wasn't until the reached the steps up to the portrait when Lupin finally broke the silence. "I wont ask where you got this from, and much less what you two were doing... But Harry, you of all people must know how dangerous that was," he started, his voice wary. "I mean, what if Sirius Black got his hands on this," he said referring to the map in his hands.
Astrid narrowed her eyes suspicously. "So you know what it is?"
"Yes, Astrid. I know it's a map."
"So you must know them," Harry said excitedly. "Messers, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs!"
Professor Lupin glanced down at the map, blinking his eyes he said, "We've met." It was short and Astrid didn't miss the way the corners of his lips downturned.
"Well if you ever see them again tell them their map isn't very good," Astrid said, continuing once she saw Lupins confusion. "Well, it shows dead people doesn't it?"
Harry caught on, "Oh, yeah... Must've been a mistake I guess," he shrugged.
"The map is never wrong, Harry." Lupin said, his voice quiet and his eyes urged them to continue.
"Peter Pettigrew," Astrid replied, and for a second she saw fear in Lupin's eyes, maybe he was scared of ghosts. "He was having a merry stroll earlier, y'know. Anyways double transfigurations tomorrow so I should better get to bed."
She and Harry bid their goodbyes unfazed by how unusual Lupin had become. Entering the common room, they found no surprise at the fact that everyone was in bed. The dim sound of the fireplace finally calmed her senses. She hadn't been in Harry's presence for more than four hours and she had already gotten into the most trouble of her three years! "That was fun," she said, her voice sounding like that of an excited child. A smile graced her face as she looked at Harry who stood next to her. Neither had moved from the entrance.
Harry's smile mirrored Astrids. He bit his bottom lip, an attempt to stop himself from smiling wider. He was sure he looked stupid. "We should do that more often, What d'you think, hm?"
Astrid hummed, a sufficient response for Harry. Her smile turned into a childish grin, "Goodnight Harry," she whispered softly, though she made no move to leave.
Winter grey met emerald green, and with the crackle of the fireplace, Harry had never felt more at peace. He stared at her dimples, at her freckles, at the ringlets of her hair that framed her doll-like face. Astrid truly was beautiful, his eyes never left hers even when he blinked he tried to do it as fast as possible just to go back to looking at her. "Night Astrid," he said, though more than anything he hoped she would stay.
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mostly from the movie bc i like
that scene more :)
also ty ty ty for 1k reads!!!!