Chapter IX: Broom Closet Encounters
(Daphne P.O.V)
Daphne had practiced the art of disregard and disinterest, it was the mastery of these feelings that allowed the Ice Queen persona to be born. But, seeing the way Potter would interact with Astoria, how he had left the table last night to go sit with her so she wasn't alone, and how much Astoria was seeming to look up to Potter was making her nauseous. When Blaise had told her of Draco's plan to essentially hold sister's welfare at the school hostage if she didn't agree to fall in line, the first thing she thought was that it was devious, almost impressively so for an idiot like Malfoy, but Astoria being friends with Potter would put her in the crossfire without a doubt even if she did conform. Daphne was very surprised that Potter had insulted Draco and now Draco was out for revenge, she could only hope her plan would work because if it didn't she really had no idea what else she was going to do.
Daphne had been pondering just when she could put her plan into action without Malfoy becoming aware, and to both her disdain and luck, as she was sitting in her Ancient Runes class she heard a familiar voice, "Morning Princess."
Daphne had turned to face none other than Harry Potter who had walked in just moments before class began looking as annoyingly attractive as ever. She wasn't sure how, but somehow, Potter had managed to make disheveled clothes look good. Worse though was that his ego was inflating even more without a doubt as his and Corner's prank on her Head of House had done wonders for their reputation. Daphne couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of grudging respect, as she personally wasn't a fan of her Head of House's bias either.
"Potter," She said cooly, trying to keep her head in place. She needed to remain civil, she needed to convince Potter to leave Astoria alone, for both of their sakes.
"Mr. Potter," A lady with a raven-like face, long black hair, and cool black eyes spoke, "Please find a seat, class is about to begin."
Potter pulled out the chair beside Daphne's and while Daphne did her best to contain her groan, the agony was far from over as Potter whispered, "So Princess, how was your first day back?"
"Fine," Daphne responded curtly, "And stop calling me Princess."
"I don't think I will," Harry said with a smirk, "And just fine? Is someone giving you a hard time or something?"
"Yeah," Daphne said, "Maybe you know him, black hair, green eyes, lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He's a major pain."
Harry laughed, and Daphne couldn't help but feel a certain way about his laugh, it was unique and warm, it was comforting in a strange way, but once Harry stopped laughing, all he said was, "Cold, Ice Princess, very cold."
Before Daphne could even respond, Professor Babbling spoke, "Potter, Greengrass, is this a discussion you want to share with the class. If not, then please be quite, I'm handing out the entry assessment exam, any further chit-chat and I will take away points."
"I hate you," Daphne growled, never in her life had she even been called out by a teacher, and of course, the first time it ever happens, it's when she was trying to make a good first impression, and of course, it was all Potter's fault.
"Don't say that Princess," Harry said still smirking, "You'll come around."
"Not a chance Potter," Daphne growled beneath her breath before a stern look from Professor Babbling silenced her and a few moments later, the assessment test was placed in front of her and she quickly got to work.
It had taken the better part of an hour, and Daphne's head felt like it was about ready to explode. Runes had been a subject she'd been wanting to take for years and had even begun studying the runic alphabet in the hopes that maybe the cure to Astoria's curse could be found in an ancient runic book. However, even with all that preparation, the assessment was hard. Babbling had informed the class that this exam was simply a bar to gauge their current abilities and wouldn't be counted for a grade, but all the same, Daphne had hoped she had scored well.
When class was dismissed, she was surprised upon catching a glimpse at Potter's paper before it was collected. Daphne had thought that certainly, Potter was an idiot, to her all the boy did was flirt and pull pranks, but from the peek she had gotten from Potter's work, it looked as if there was actually stuff written down. Yes, perhaps Potter wasn't as one dimensional as she once thought, but she still refused to believe he wasn't an arrogant ass, he may not be a complete idiot, but Daphne knew the ladder to be true.
However, Daphne had also been looking around the entire class, neither Malfoy nor either of his two goons had decided to take Ancient Runes, which meant that if there was ever to be a chance to have a private conversation with Potter, now would be her best chance. She saw that Potter was just about to pass a broom closet, and swallowing her pride, she quickly ran up to him, wrapped her arm around his and pulled him into the darkened broom closes in one swift motion.
Daphne couldn't believe what she had just done, and instantly upon seeing the mischievous look on Potter's face, she knew she regretted her decision. She had never been this close to Harry. Her chest was pressed against his, her face was right at his neck, and her sense were overwhelmed by the intoxicating smell of cedar and green apple. She looked up at Potter trying to keep her nerve when finally, he spoke first, "You know Princess, if you wanted to get me alone in a broom closet, you just had to ask."
"Shut up," Daphne growled trying to swallow her embarrassment, "Stop doing that."
"Doing what?" Harry said still grinning at her like an idiot.
"Stop being so-," She started.
"So Charming? So Wonderful? So Irresistible?" Harry finished for her.
"Stop being such an arrogant jerk," Daphne growled, "I need to talk to you, so can you please be serious for one god damn minute."
Suddenly, to her great surprise, the easy grin that normally rested upon Harry's face became as straight as a line, and with a genuine look in his eyes he spoke, "Are you okay?"
"What do you-," But then Daphne looked down and saw that his hand was wrapped around her wrist, and due to the anxiety she was feeling of not just being in such a small place with the Boy-Who-Lived, but her fear with Astoria getting bullied, her heart rate must have been racing.
"Your pulse is racing," Harry said calmly, "Which means that A, you are attracted to me and you are lying, which, I mean, game on. Or B, you're frightened about something and it has something to do with me or else you wouldn't have thrown me in a broom closet with you."
Daphne pulled her arm away from Harry, but the look of concern didn't leave his eyes as Daphne spat, "Don't touch me. And no, I'm not 'attracted' to you and you don't frighten me, I just need you to leave Astoria alone."
"Astoria?" Harry said confusion lacing his voice, "Why?"
"Because we've both made enemies of Malfoy," Daphne spoke, "And to get back at you and me, Astoria is a target. He and his cronies are going to come after her and I can't let that happen. I have a plan to keep Malfoy of Astoria's back, but you need to leave her alone or she could get caught in the crossfire between you and Malfoy. So, I'm asking you nicely, please Pot- Harry, leave my sister alone."
"You know that even if I agreed, that wouldn't solve anything, right?" Harry said.
"Explain," Daphne spoke, trying once again to regain her cold and disinterested tone.
"Do you even know your sister?" Harry asked incredulously, "She doesn't seem like the type of girl to just blindly follow orders. She'll realize something is up when I start ignoring her considering she's one of the few presences I don't dislike having around me, and then she'll start to do some digging. She's a smart girl and somehow, she's going to discover the fact that you are the reason she 'lost' a friend. Astoria seems like a head-strong girl, you trying to get in the way will just make her try harder to prove that nobody can make decisions for her."
Daphne was in shock at how accurately Harry had described her sister's habits after only a little longer than twenty-four hours of knowing the girl. However, Daphne knew the risks, if it was a choice between doing what Malfoy asks or seeing her sister tormented by the Malfoy's both Jr. and Sr., it wasn't a hard choice to make. Defiantly, Daphne shook her head and spoke tiredly, "Well I have to do something. I won't let a stupid friendship be the reason she gets hurt. She's my sister Potter, I have to protect her, she's all I have."
Daphne didn't know why but she realized that her last words had seemed to have a profound effect on Harry. His usual nonchalant grin had turned into a painful look of understanding as he nodded, "I get it," Harry said, "But I'm not going to do what you asked, it's only going to cause more harm than good, and I recommend you don't try and get involved. Just take care of yourself, I promise you I won't let Malfoy, or anyone for that matter hurt Astoria."
"And that's it?" Daphne spoke coldly, "You're just going to give me a promise and I'm supposed to believe it. I know being the Boy-Who-Lived gets you a lot of freedom in this school, but that's not a good enough reason for me to trust you."
"How's this for a reason then," Harry said calmly, "Astoria's my friend, and I won't let Malfoy, or anyone else lay a finger on any of my friends."
Before Daphne could even think of a response, Harry opened the door to the broom closet, and with the standard lazy grin that normally rested upon his face he spoke, "Later Princess, next time we find each other in a broom closet, maybe we can have a more fun meeting." And with that, he walked away.
(Harry P.O.V)
When Harry had returned from his first detention, both he and Corner were dead on their feet. Together they had begun walking towards their respective towers when from seemingly out of nowhere, they were stopped by Fred and George Weasley.
"Oi, Potter, Corner," George started.
"We heard a bit of a rumor," Fred said
"That you got Snape good in potions today," George finished.
"Yeah," Harry groaned, "It's why I can't currently lift my arms."
"Filtch is a monster," Michael groaned, "I can't tell you how many times I polished the 1865 house cup."
"That's why-" Fred started
"We've decided-," George continued
"To take you two under our masterful wings," The two said in unison, "Bloody brilliant, that no need to call me sir, Professor, line was. And having a brain like yours Corner would be a wonderful addition to the works of Gred and Forge."
"Do you two-," Michael started.
"Always speak like this," Fred began.
"Absolutely," George finished.
"Weird," Harry and Michael had said in unison before laughing at the irony.
"So what do you boys say?" Fred said cheerily.
"Need a hand?" George asked.
"Never hurts to learn from the masters," Michael said warmly.
"Atta boy," The twins said in unison, "Maybe if you two really inspire us, we'll introduce you to our greatest treasure."
"Treasure?" Harry asked.
"Worry not Harry ol' boy," Fred said.
"There's time for everything," George said.
"Now follow us," The twins said, "We'll make sure you two don't get caught and we'll also grab some food from the kitchens."
"How?" Michael said.
"Through the secret passageways of course," Fred spoke.
"Follow us," George said merrily, and together the two boys began to learn that there was more than just one way of getting around the halls of Hogwarts.
With their stomachs full, and laughter in their hearts, the twins and Harry separated from Corner as each returned to their own tower where word of Harry's embarrassment of Snape had spread like wildfire in the common room. Faye Dunbar, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson all had patted Harry on the back for a job well done, and Oliver Wood had slightly lifted a bottle of butterbeer to Harry, "Not bad Potter, not bad."
The only two people who didn't look elated was Ron, who had his game of Wizard's Chess disturbed by Harry's arrival and Astoria who simply shook her head as she rolled her eyes, "Really," She had said, "You couldn't go twenty-four hours before landing yourself in detention."
"Dream big Short-Stack," Harry had responded with a chuckle, "You've always gotta dream big."
However, the remainder of the week hadn't really been as much fun, well, discounting the fun Harry had been having in the broom closet with Daphne. Yes, it wasn't the most pleasant conversation he had ever had, and honestly, he was hoping that his first time in a broom closet with Daphne would have involved less talking, but all the same, something had changed at that moment, and the thrill of not knowing if it was for the better or worse filled his body with a tingling feeling.
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind though, Harry finally arrived at the class he had been waiting for, Defense Against the Dark Arts. When he had arrived, he couldn't help but smile for his Uncle as he saw the now Professor Lupin, standing at the entrance of the classroom in a suit that finally fit him. He wasn't sure how much money the post of teaching gave him, but it was clearly more than he had ever made before.
"Good morning class," Lupin had said warmly.
"Good morning," The Gryffindor's had responded warmly, but the Slytherin's, for the most part, were less enthusiastic than normal. Harry had initially turned to send a smile towards Daphne, God, He thought to himself, That girl is unfairly attractive, but instead of seeing the blonde he wanted, his eyes locked with the cold glare of Draco Malfoy.
"From what I've read about your last year's education under Professor Lockhart," This name of the previous professor had caused the class to laugh at the fact that from what Harry had understood Dumbledore had exposed the man as a fraud nearing the end of last year, "You were taught the standard dueling procedure. Due to your prior professor being less than satisfactory, I believe it would be a good place with revisiting the dueling process. Do I have any volunteers?"
Dueling was something Harry was quite familiar with, Harry had been dueling with Tonks since the day he had got his wand. Not only was the procedure second nature, the thrill of a friendly duel always caused him to tremble with excitement. Yet, Harry didn't want to volunteer, he didn't need the revision and while he didn't like to brag openly, he had his doubts that any third-year student could even provide him a modicum of a challenge.
However, the class was surprisingly quiet. Clearly, Lockhart had been worse than Harry imagined as fearful looks were being exchanged between students with the message, Do you remember how to duel? Being silently spoken. Realizing that there was no other option, Harry closed his eyes and readied himself for what would come next, "Mr. Potter," Remus had started, "Are you familiar with the Dueling Procedure."
"Yes Professor," Harry said politely, playing the cover story of him not knowing Remus the way he did as best as he could.
"Excellent," Remus said smiling, "And who shall be your partner."
Suddenly, a pale hand shot up and Harry once again locked eyes with the grey-eyed boy, "I'll duel Potter."
Harry turned to Remus a pleading look to go all out in his eyes, but Remus sent him a look that spoke volumes and Harry knew he was being asked to behave. He sighed as he once again faced Malfoy before he spoke, "Are you sure you want to humiliate yourself here Malfoy? I'm already starting to feel bad for you."
The Gryffindors laughed while the snakes glared at Harry as if they were Cobra's ready to strike, except for the Princess herself who Harry hadn't seen since their broom closet encounter. Her face was the completely addicting face of disinterest that Harry couldn't get enough of. There was something about a girl not being interested in his fame that really brought a warmth to his heart and the fact that the girl looked as beautiful as Daphne Greengrass certainly didn't hurt.
"Shut it, Potter," Malfoy spoke with a sneer, "I'll humiliate you right in front of all your lions and show you why Pure-Bloods are at the top of the totem pole."
"Sure," Harry said with a shrug as he began to take the paces from Malfoy as Dueling Protocol insists, "Whatever."
Malfoy had stood there, clearly, a bit rustled at Harry's lack of respect for his non-existent authority. He had already not cared for Malfoy simply because of his family but hearing from Daphne that he was willing to threaten Astoria, one of Harry's friends made him angry, extremely so. Harry was unsure how Malfoy believed this duel would go, but he knew that he wouldn't be done until Malfoy had thoroughly learned his place.
Harry had never really had friends. He had Sirius who he loved, and he had Tonks growing up, but at his muggle school, his secrets had stopped him from having any real non-janitor closet relationships. However, hearing from Remus and Sirius about their days at Hogwarts, how the Marauders were as thick as thieves, and how Pettigrew had betrayed them had made Harry value friendship greatly. To him, he would rather die than betray his friends and the fact that Malfoy was trying to threaten a person he saw as a friend infuriated him.
Before Harry could continue on in his angry spiral, Remus had spoken, "Alright, this is going to be a demonstration duel. The goal is to disarm, and only disarm your opponent. Am I clear?"
Malfoy glared down Harry, and Harry returned with a smirk of his own as if to say, 'bring it' before he nodded and responded to Remus, "Crystal."
"Okay," Remus said with a clap, "Begin the duel."
As was the custom, Harry began to bow, but before he could even complete his dip, Malfoy had bellowed, "Furnunculus!"
Quickly, Harry dropped to the ground, dodging the golden light before he rolled out of the way of a toe-bitter jinx. Sending a quick look to Remus begging him not to stop the duel, Harry turned to Malfoy and smirked, "Not a good idea."
"Tempestas!" A little storm cloud emerged from Malfoy's wand as small bolts of lightning sprang towards Harry giving him just enough time to bob and weave out of the way only getting hit by one which sent his hair sticking straight up and his body began to tingle from the small burn left on his shoulder, "How do you like that Potter? Not so funny no-,"
But Harry was waiting for this, just as he had expected, Malfoy was about showmanship. Sure, judging by the jolt he had felt through his body from Malfoy's Tempest Jinx, he wasn't a weak wizard, but he had no focus. His only drive was to try and humiliate Harry, and that was his big mistake as Harry quickly lifted his wand and spoke with a calm voice, "Expelliarmus."
Cutting Malfoy off completely, the color drained from his face as his wand flew from his hand into Harry's who smiled before pointing the two wands at Malfoy and spoke, "Vermillious." From each wand, a bolt of red sparks erupted right at Malfoy's feet, and to Harry's delight, Malfoy yelped as he jumped.
"Come on Malfoy," Harry said with a smirk, "I thought you wanted to dance. So, go on, dance. Vermillious."
As Harry continued to send red sparks towards Malfoy's feet, the boy continued to hobble until Harry was now inches from Malfoy's face. The blonde git's wand pointed at his chest while Harry's was pointed at his forehead, "Do you surrender?"
Malfoy glared angrily at him, but Harry simply continued to smile broadly as he whispered just loud enough for Malfoy to hear, "This is my last warning Malfoy. Mess with me, or any of my friends, and next time, I'm might not be so merciful. And since you're a little thick, I'll make this simple. You touch Astoria, and I might just accidentally let a reductor spell lose. Understand?"
But before Harry could get an answer Remus spoke, "Okay that's enough. For disobedience of my rules, 5 points will be taken from Gryffindor and Slytherin." The crowd of Gryffindors groaned loudly at the unjust punishment, but Remus quickly rectified the situation as he spoke, "But for tremendous restraint on Mr. Potter's part after being so unnecessarily attacked, I grant Gryffindor House 10 points."
The Gryffindors began to clap, but that didn't matter to Harry, all that mattered was the fear that was plastered on Draco and his gangs' faces. He wasn't sure if it would stick, but he hoped that Malfoy and his pals learned that messing with Astoria was not an option. Slowly he turned to look at Daphne, and for a moment, Emerald Green and Icy Blue locked until she quickly turned away with a scowl which only caused Harry to shake his head and sigh. Apparently, the Princess didn't think it was enough to deter Malfoy, and part of Harry agreed. No son of Lucius Malfoy would ever concede so easily.
It hadn't taken long until Remus had dismissed the class but before Harry had exited, Remus had called out, "Mr. Potter, a word please."
Harry waved goodbye towards all his Gryffindor year-mates before turning around and re-entering the classroom. Remus was standing there, a warm smile on his face as he spoke, "I let the duel go on so you could send Malfoy a message, but I don't condone any violence within the halls of Hogwarts. I'm proud that you handled that attack responsibly, but it's always best to avoid conflict if possible."
Harry nodded, "I know, it's just, he really gets under my skin sometimes. And then, I think about how his dad was one of them, and it just-"
"I know Harry," Remus said warmly holding his shoulder, "It's hard to accept sometimes, but Draco isn't his father, he hasn't committed his father's crimes. I know that he's not the most likeable person, but he isn't a criminal, and he isn't responsible for his father's actions. I'm not saying you have to be his best friend, but sometimes a good prank is better than a spell, and often it carries far fewer consequences."
Harry smiled, "So Padfoot was right, the marauder Moony still exists."
"Just because I grew up doesn't mean I can't have fun from time to time," Remus said with a chuckle, "Oh yes, I nearly forgot, speaking of fun I have something for you. I'm sure you know that Quidditch try-outs are coming up."
"Yeah," Harry said, "I was actually going to ask Kreacher if he could bring me my broom, it'll be hard but as long as I can outfly everyone else on my Comet 140, I should be fine."
"Ah yes, well I feel that won't be much of a problem moving forward," Remus said with a smile before pulling out a long and thin parcel wrapped in a brown wrapping and tied with a black bow, "Padfoot and I didn't get you anything for your birthday a few months back did we? I fear that's my fault."
"It's okay Moony," Harry said sincerely, "You don't need to buy me a present, both you and Padfoot have given me more than enough."
"Well you see, Padfoot wanted to give this to you for your birthday," Remus said, "But I didn't want to bum off him, so I had to wait until I got my first payout, but now that I have," Remus pushed the parcel gently into Harry's hands, "Happy Late Birthday Harry."
His hands were trembling as he held the parcel in his hand. As if he was about to perform complex surgery, his willed his hands to stop and slowly, with great precision, he pulled at the end of the black bow undoing the knot. He held his breath as with intense focus, he slowly began to undress the brown wrapping until laying on the desk before him was a brand new Firebolt. The handle was made of beautiful polished ebony, and the twigs were an assortment of birch and hazel allowing for a quicker ascent and pinpoint turns. Harry gently brushed his hands over the goblin-made ironwork fitting, and a tear began to fall from his eye as next to the golden registration number, the broom was engraved with Flyboy 2.0.
Sirius had told him growing up that during their seventh year it was the name his mother had called his father, and seeing it engraved on his own racing broom was nearly too much for him to handle. Gently he placed the broom down and looked up to see Remus giving a nervous smile, "I hope you liked it. Padfoot and I were a little nervous about the-"
But before he could finish, Harry had nearly tackled his uncle with a hug, gripping the man tightly as he whispered, "Thank you."
"It's alright Harry. It was our pleasure," Remus said kindly, "Now make sure you're ready to show everyone on that Quidditch pitch that James Potter wasn't the only Potter gifted on a broomstick. And between you, Padfoot and I, we'd like to see Hufflepuff lose the Quidditch Cup for once, but don't tell Nym."
Harry nodded, "I'll do my best to make you proud."
Remus returned with a warm nod, "You always do."
(Astoria P.O.V)
One week at Hogwarts, it had taken all of one week for all of Astoria's hopes for the year to go down the toilet. Her first issue was that the girls flocking for Harry's affection wouldn't leave her alone for a second, and because of that, she wasn't able to comfortably get any work done. The second issue is that she wanted to break down and scream at how embarrassed she had felt during her lesson in transfiguration when she was the only one who couldn't turn the bird into a water goblet, and then finally there was the fight with Daphne that had happened just the day before.
All she wanted was to go to Hogwarts, get sorted with her sister, and enjoy her remaining few years before her blood curse took her. But everything had gone so terribly wrong. All her life, she had been either babied or disregarded. People either refused to acknowledge she existed because they felt it would be easier to handle her imminent death or if they did acknowledge her, it wasn't much better, as instead, they treated her like she was made of glass, stopping her from riding brooms, or playing outside, or anything that could risk her health even though the Blood Curse did nothing to affect her physical ability.
When she had come to Hogwarts, she hoped she'd get a chance at freedom. She had hoped that Daphne would've understood that all she wanted was to be able to make her own choices. But no, instead she had come up to her and demanded that she stopped being friends with Harry. Astoria didn't understand why Daphne would say that, yes, Harry bothered her, but that wasn't exactly a good enough reason for Astoria.
Harry had looked out for her, sat next to her when nobody else would, sure she didn't have friends in her common room yet, but it was thanks to Harry that nobody bullied her. Hell, even earlier that day Harry had allowed her to fly around a little on his new broom. Yes, Daphne was her sister and she loved her, but this was more than Harry, this was about her pride. Astoria for the first time had made a friend she chose, and she didn't want to give it up, not without a good reason at least.
It was for that reason, Astoria was currently sitting alone in the first-year girls' dormitory doing her best not to cry. Her sister had called her naïve and immature, and for some reason, that had cut deeper than she had been expecting it to. She had always believed that Daphne wanted her to be happy, but just as she had finally made a friend, an actual friend, Daphne wanted to strip that away from her. She wanted to scream, but before she could do that, she heard a knock at the door.
Astoria defiantly wiped away what had escaped of her tears before she went to get the door. Standing there, was none other than Professor McGonagall, a look of concern on her face. Astoria quickly straightened herself up as best she could before she spoke, "Hello Professor."
"Ms. Greengrass," McGonagall responded curtly before entering the girl's dormitory taking a seat on Astoria's bunk, "Come now, sit. I won't bite."
A weak smile appeared on Astoria's face at the normally stern woman's attempt at humor. Slowly, she walked over sitting beside the emerald-robed professor before she spoke, "Can I help you, Professor?"
"I've actually come to ask the same thing, Ms. Greengrass," McGonagall said comfortingly, "You were absent from all of your classes today, but when I asked Mr. Potter of your whereabouts he claimed that he had seen you that morning at breakfast before class and that you didn't seem unwell. Tell me, Ms. Greengrass, why were you absent today?"
"I- I was just having a bad day is all," Astoria said fighting the tears in her eyes.
With a wave of her wand, McGonagall conjured up a box of tissues before handing it to her, "I heard about your fight with your sister. I will always encourage my cubs to do what they believe is right as opposed to what they believe is easy, but in doing so, I do expect them to abide by as many guidelines a possible."
"I'm sorry Professor," Astoria said sadly, "It won't happen again."
"Cry," McGonagall said calmly.
"What?" Astoria said between sniffles.
"I know Ms. Greengrass," McGonagall said, "I know about your disease, it was in the student records when you were sorted into my house. I know how hard of a time you are having, and I know how much you want to let it out, but much like a lion, you are too proud to do so. I'm telling you it's okay. So, if you need to cry, I won't tell a soul."
"It's not fair," Astoria said slowly, "It's just not fair," She repeated the tears finally streaming down her cheeks.
"I know Ms. Greengrass," McGonagall said, "But if the world were fair, it wouldn't be the one we know. It's important to be strong, to handle challenges, but it's equally as important to understand that it's okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes. You were sorted into the house of the Brave, not the house of the unfeeling, there's no shame in falling, there's only shame in staying down."
Astoria wasn't sure how long it was that McGonagall had comforted her as the tears she'd been holding back for hours poured, but eventually, she seemed to have gained a stronger grip on her self and released her head of house who gave her a kind smile before pointing her wand at her and drying her clothes. With another wave of her wand, a cheering charm was placed on her, and with a final wave, a stack of homework appeared.
"None of your assignments will be graded as late," McGonagall said, "But I do suggest you get them finished as soon as you can. Mr. Potter has volunteered to help you, he's waiting for you down in the Common Room."
"Thank you, Professor," Astoria said feeling better as she looked appreciatively at her professor.
"You're my student Ms. Greengrass," McGonagall said, her normal stern expression returning to her face, "I'll always try to be available when a student needs me." Astoria gave her Head of House one last thankful nod before McGonagall exited the room, and she began to load her books into her book bag. She had a moment of weakness, but it wouldn't control her any longer. Maybe Daphne didn't approve of her choice, but Astoria felt it was the right thing to do, and she'd stand by that just as her Head of House had said.