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rsadelleThis is the last of my HP unfinished fic, (except for the Harry/Luna one I started on Monday, which I still might write more of; I also have two more finished but never posted HP fics, which I will attempt to polish up and post before Friday night), and I'm very sad to admit that I'm never going to finish it. This was my baby, my epic. I knew what was going to happen three years into the future of the story. I was experimenting with one, long, unbroken narrative. I last worked on it on June 15, 2005.
This is very long, so I'm breaking it into two entries. If you want to know what happens after the end of the story, that's at the end of the second one.
Someone, Snape maybe, introduced him to the girl. Astra. Dirty blond hair in twin braids down the sides of her face. She looked familiar for a moment, but then he realized it was only because she looked like her mother.
He'd known her mother, of course. She'd been one of his own mother's best friends. He shoved the connection away and looked down at the girl with as blank a face as he could manage.
The girl's eyes cleared, he saw it happen, and she very clearly said his name. "Draco." Draco caught the flash of startlement on the face of nearly every adult in the room before the girl reached out and took his hand in hers. She stepped to his side and turned so that they were facing the adults together.
"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you seem to have made a friend." Dumbledore beamed at him. "Why don't you show her around the school?"
Because I don't want to, he nearly said, but there was no one to keep him from getting in trouble now. He settled for a sullen, "Yes, sir," and pulled the girl out into the hall with him. Once out of the teachers' sight, he pulled his hand away, or tried to. Her grip was stronger than he thought. "Let go," he demanded.
The girl gripped his hand tighter, and he jerked at her hard enough to make her take a stumbling step toward him. She didn't let go. He scowled at her.
"Let go."
She met his eyes, and her eyes cleared again. It was unnerving to watch. "No," she said in a strange, clear voice that was as unnerving as her gaze.
"Fine." He tugged on her hand and took her down the stairs to the main entryway. "You've seen the Great Hall," he said, gesturing at the doors. He gestured at the various staircases. "They move around. You'll learn." Or not, he thought, glancing down at the girl's stillness and blank face, but kept that thought to himself.
"You'll want to learn the path to Slytherin house quickly." He tugged her hand to make her look up at him. "Pay attention so you won't get lost." He led her two flights down a staircase into a hallway. "This is the quickest way," he explained as he pulled a tapestry aside just enough to slip behind it. They went through a short, magically lit passageway and emerged in another hallway. He led her a few feet farther and pushed open an unmarked door. It led into the Slytherin common room.
"The tapestry only lets Slytherins in." He gave her a warning look. "The other houses don't know anything about it, so don't tell anyone about it." As if that were likely to happen, he thought.
"You'll need to know the other way too." He took her out through another door. He led her through the passageways that took them along an upwardly sloping path. He pointed out the tapestry when they passed it. They emerged in the entryway where they'd started.
"You can learn how to get to the classrooms later," he told her with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's go outside." With no agreement or disagreement from her, he took her through the doors out into the front courtyard. "Care of Magical Creatures is over there," he told her, pointing out the main space as they left the protection of the castle walls. "The greenhouses for Herbology." He pointed them out too. "The Forbidden Forest." He shot her a stern look. "Stay out of there. It's forbidden. There are dangerous things in there." They walked on in silence.
"And this is the Quidditch pitch." Draco gestured at the expanse of grass. "You have seen a Quidditch match, haven't you?"
She looked up at the goalposts. "Wind. Flying. Wind. Bludger. Wind, wind, wind. Snatch the snitch!" She turned her face toward him. "Mother played. Narcissa wouldn't. Mother did."
Draco stepped back as far as their clasped hands would let him. "Don't. Don't talk about her." He took another step back, and she took one forward to stay with him. He looked away from her gaze. "Do you know how to fly?" he asked her.
"Yes." Her answer was surprisingly clear and uncomplicated.
"Come on." He took her around the curve of the pitch to a shed he knew housed practice brooms. "I'm not taking you up on a broom with me."
She considered that and dropped his hand in favor of the broom he handed her.
Draco watched her closely as she mounted the broom. Only when she was safely hovering a few feet above the ground did he mount his own broom. He threw her a challenging look. "I'll race you to the other end."
"Three," she said, and they took off across the pitch. Much to Draco's surprise, she finished mere centimeters behind him.
"I guess you can fly," he admitted grudgingly.
With the smile on her face and her wind-reddened cheeks, Astra could have been any wizarding child. She jerked her broom up sharply and made a quick loop in the air. She was laughing when she came back to rest at Draco's side.
The sound of a bell came from the direction of the castle, and Draco turned them back toward the shed. "That's the bell for supper," he explained. They flew back across the pitch and Draco secured their brooms. Astra took his hand again once he closed the door of the shed. He looked down at their joined hands and decided it wasn't worth trying to get her to let go.
They entered the Great Hall together. They were a little late, and nearly everyone else was already seated. Draco tried to make Astra sit with the other first year Slytherins, but she stubbornly clung to his hand. He gave up and took her down the table to sit with him.
"New girlfriend?" Zambini asked.
Draco just shook his head, too weary to even protest. He settled Astra into the chair next to him and chose his meal from the plates on the table. He let the muted conversations of the half-full school wash over him while he surreptitiously watched Astra choose only a few small things and then only pick at those. Homesickness? he wondered. Or just another symptom of her oddity? She finished her meal, such as it was, well before anyone else at the table. When she was done, she crossed her hands primly on her lap. The gesture belonged to an octogenarian, not an eleven-year-old.
She took his hand again when he stood to leave the table. They took the shortcut back to the common room. "I want a book from my trunk," he told her. "You can't come to my room with me." She considered that and seemed to accept it as she released his hand.
Draco came back with his book and settled into one of the high-backed chairs facing the fire. Before he could open his book, Astra appeared carrying one of the large silver and green cushions from the corners of the room. She dropped it on the floor and settled down on it with her back resting against his chair.
Draco looked down at her neatly parted and braided hair. He looked over her shoulder to see the book on her lap. It wasn't anything he recognized. He opened his own book and set it on his lap. The book mostly provided him with an excuse not to talk to anyone as he stared into the fire and tried not to feel.
He didn't say goodnight when left the common room, but he could feel the force of her gaze following him out.
He felt that gaze often over the next few months. Summer was hard. They'd let the students come back to Hogwarts, but they hadn't given them anything to *do*, so they were left to entertain themselves. Draco went flying and pretended to read and spent more time in the library than anyone else around.
Astra often appeared at his side wherever he happened to be. She was so quiet and her appearances so sudden that if he didn't know better he would have thought she were Apparating. Draco often wondered just what was wrong with her, but he didn't know who to ask.
In the middle of August, Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast one morning. "I hope you are all enjoying your summer," he began with that permanent smile of his after he'd gotten their silence. "As you know, the fall term will be starting in a few weeks. As an end of summer treat, a few of your professors have volunteered to organize a field trip for you. You will have the chance to visit Stonehenge with those who understand its true purpose." He beamed at the suddenly interested students. "You may sign up with your head of house." Dumbledore sat down and let them return to their meals.
"I want to go," Astra suddenly announced. She looked at Draco and said, "Take me with you."
Draco opened his mouth to say he hadn't decided to go, but realized that that was exactly what he wanted. A change of scenery. "I'll tell Snape," he said instead. Later, when Snape was in his office to take names, he added both his and Astra's to the list.
The next week, he received an owl at breakfast summoning him to Snape's office before tea. He spent the day half-watching Astra and wondering why Snape was summoning him.
"Come in," Snape called in answer to his knock. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy," he said when Draco came in. "Please, sit." Snape gestured at the chairs arranged in a half-circle in front of his desk.
There was only one chair left, and Draco sat at one end of the curve next to, of all people, Harry Potter. He recognized the other two as well, Ravenclaw's Keeper and one of Hufflepuff's Chasers.
"I will be one of the professors chaperoning the trip to Stonehenge," Snape told them gravely. "The four of you are all well-known and well-respected members of your houses." Snape steepled his fingers before him and gazed at them sternly. "You will assist me and the other professors in keeping order."
Bertram, the Ravenclaw Keeper asked, "Isn't that what the prefects are supposed to do?"
"This is not a simple excursion," Snape reminded them. "The prefects will be in attendance as well, but with the four of you as well, we should be able to keep everyone in line."
When there were no further questions, Snape handed out scrolls to each of them. "This is our schedule and a few reminders of what we will expect of you." He glared at each of them in turn. "I expect you to behave yourselves."
"Yes, sir," they answered.
Snape looked mildly pleased. "Dismissed," he said with a wave. "Mr. Malfoy," he said as they began to file out, "a moment, please."
Draco stopped and settled himself back into his chair. He ignored the curious glance Potter threw toward him on the way out. "Sir?" he asked, when the door closed behind the other three.
"Mr. Malfoy," Snape peered down at him. "You will need to pay extra attention to Miss Conroy." Draco wondered for a moment who Snape was talking about before he realized that he meant Astra. "Stonehenge is a place of great magic, old magic. We don't know how she will react to it."
Seeing his opportunity, Draco asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Snape met his eyes steadily. "We don't know. If she were a Muggle, they would call it autism. As it is, we don't know." He stared at a point over Draco's head for a moment. "Her parents--" Snape stopped. "Her parents," he said gently, "were more involved in their own lives than in hers. From what we can gather, she was raised mostly by the house elves." Snape scowled. "I don't think her family even remembered her until her letter arrived."
Draco nodded in understanding. "I'll keep my eye on her at Stonehenge."
"Yes, she does seem to respond to you." Snape pierced him with a look. "Did you know her before?"
Draco shook his head. "No. I knew her mother--" Draco had to fight to keep his voice steady-- "but I never met her."
Snape watched him. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy." He waved his hand. "Take your parchment and you may go."
"Thank you, sir." Draco took the scroll and carefully let himself out of Snape's office. He took a shortcut through an unused dungeon and returned to the common room just in time for tea.
Draco, by virtue of seniority and the sense of awe that seemed to surround him in the common room now, managed to get one of the tea trays for two. He took it with him to one of the sofas at the edge of the room. He put the tray on the low table in front of the sofa and poured for two. Astra arrived just as he dropped a sugar cube into his cup. She took half a pumpkin scone and nibbled on it as she settled onto the couch next to him. When she was done with her scone, she pulled her legs up under herself and pulled out the book she was travelling with. She sipped her tea as she read, and Draco refilled her cup when she finished it.
Draco unrolled the scroll Snape had given him and began to read. The first section of the scroll was an itinerary--train times, lodging details, name of their tour guide. Under that were the responsibilities Snape expected him to take on. And at the very bottom, there was an extra note: "Miss Conroy will need close supervision. Please take extra care on this trip to stay with her." Draco let the scroll fall to his lap. He reached out and brushed a small tendril of Astra's hair back behind her ear. She seemed not to notice, but he soon found her head against his shoulder.
He took her flying a few days later. They went out to the Quidditch pitch and raced back and forth until they were both laughing and winded. Draco then pulled close to her and they drifted slowly to the ground.
"Astra," Draco said, dropping onto a bench next to her. "Astra," he said again, and this time she met his eyes. "We're going to Stonehenge in a few days."
"Yes," she said. "The stones of power."
"Yes," he said. "Astra, you need to stay with me when we're there." He was relieved to see her eyes staying clear and focused. "Can you do that?"
She smiled at him as if he were the odd one. "Yes," she answered. She grinned at him and picked up her broom. "Across the pitch," she challenged, and Draco grinned back and laughed as they flew up into the air.
The train stopped for an exact forty minutes in London. The students stayed on the train while those who had not yet returned to Hogwarts but had chosen to visit Stonehenge boarded the train. Draco heard Potter greeting his Gryffindor friends, and he watched Gregory and Vincent take a compartment with Pansy and Millicent.
"Sorrow lasts," Astra commented, jerking Draco out of his contemplation of his schoolmates. He looked sharply at Astra, but relaxed when she continued reading. No one joined them, and they had the compartment to themselves the rest of the way to (???) where they were to spend the night.
They were staying in a mansion only a few kilometers from Stonehenge, close enough to walk if they chose. Draco sent Astra with Amelia, the Hufflepuff Chaser, to leave her things in her room. When Draco came down from his own room, Astra was in the middle of the entryway warily watching an older girl.
Draco came up behind Astra. "She doesn't like," he started to explain. He saw Granger's shoulders tense and knew she expected him to say "Gryffindors" or "Mudbloods". "Strangers," he finished. "This is Hermione Granger," he told Astra. "Granger, this is Astra Conroy."
"The moon howls," Astra said, and slipped her hand into his.
Granger looked startled. Serves her right, Draco thought snidely. Out loud, he said to Astra, "Snape said we could go exploring as long as we don't go very far."
"The garden," Astra said.
Draco nodded. "The garden, then." They swept past Granger and out the door. Astra pulled Draco down the steps and around the corner of the house into the gardens. They spent a few hours exploring the gardens before supper. Draco had to keep a close watch on her to keep her out of the belladonna patches.
Draco was aware of Granger's eyes on them all through dinner, and he tried not to wonder what she was thinking.
The professors let them divide themselves up into groups, and in the morning, Snape led one group down the path while McGonagall went with the other group in carriages. Draco and Astra, and Potter and his friends, went with Snape. Most of the other Slytherins went with McGonagall.
Draco and Astra walked silently. Potter and his friends chattered the whole way.
"Oh," Astra said in wonder when the stones of Stonehenge came into view. Draco was inclined to agree with her, and he squeezed her hand.
There was only one tour guide, with an amplifying spell, for all of them. Draco tried to listen while Astra slowly pulled him to the outside of the group. The first time she tried to move away from them altogether, he pulled her back. The second time, she succeeded in pulling him away enough that they were at the back of the group.
"Astra," he said sternly when she did it the third time, but she was not to be deterred. She was surprisingly strong, and she dragged him inexorably toward the center of the inner circle of stones. "Astra," he said again, but she kept walking.
"Power," she said, as they stopped in front of the altar stone. She reached out and touched the stone. "Old power."
Draco could feel *something* that itched along his skin. There were muted voices behind him, and he assumed the others had noticed their absence. He tried to pull Astra away from the stone, but she wouldn't budge.
Astra's voice cracked through the air. "Stop!" She jerked away from the stone and leaned heavily against Draco. "I want to leave," she said, her eyes clear and her voice shaking.
Draco staggered under the returning rush of sound. "Yes," he said, and cringed at the volume of his own voice. He looked for Professor Snape, and found him cutting his way through the students.
"Mr. Malfoy," he roared, "what is going on here?"
Astra huddled against Draco and he found himself turning to shield her from Snape. "I don't know," he admitted to Snape. He gestured at the altar stone. "She touched it and something happened." He touched Astra's hair lightly. "She wants to leave."
"That may be best," Snape snapped. He looked around at the gathered students. "Get back to the lecture," he ordered. "I suppose one of us will have to accompany you," he said grudgingly.
"I remember the way," Draco said.
"You can't go by yourselves," McGonagall said.
Draco met her eyes with a level gaze. "What's to harm us?"
"I think Mr. Malfoy is responsible enough to make sure they return safely," Snape said.
"Take one of the carriages," McGonagall suggested.
Draco could feel a small movement from Astra. "We would prefer to walk."
"Nonsense! You've had a shock. Take a carriage."
"We're fine," Draco said, and now that the shock of it was wearing off, he felt strangely energized. Astra did too, if her agitated fidgeting was anything to go by. "We'd like to walk."
"What's to harm them?" Snape asked.
McGongall was outraged. "We can't allow students to go wandering around the countryside unaccompanied!"
"They only have to follow the road. Mr. Malfoy is quite capable of that."
McGonagall sniffed. "Send a message spell when you get there."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Professor Snape." Draco turned Astra out of the curve of his arm and let her drag him out of the central circle of stones. She slowed down a fraction when they cleared the first circle and returned to a normal walk once they made it out of the outer circle. Even Draco relaxed once they were back on the road.
"I think there are brooms in the house," Draco told Astra. He squeezed her hand. "We'll go flying when we get back."
She squeezed back and moved closer to him for the rest of the walk.
There were brooms, in a closet in one of the dormitory-style rooms. Draco sent a quick message spell back to the professors, and then he and Astra tried out brooms until they found two that would suit them. They took the brooms down the stairs and out onto the porch.
"I'll race you to the belladonna patch," Draco offered. He waited until they were both hovering over the porch before he gave the signal. As usual, she was only centimeters behind him.
They kept busy flying in and out of the gardens until the first group of students began to arrive, when they swooped back down to the porch.
"You seem to have suffered no ill effects from your experience this morning," McGonagall observed.
Astra stepped back and to the side so she was half-hiding behind Draco. McGonagall frowned, but forbore from comment.
"No, ma'am," Draco answered for both of them. He reached behind himself and took Astra's hand. "If you'll excuse us, Professor, we have to return the brooms."
"Of course." McGonagall moved out of their way, allowing them to cross the porch and go back into the house.
They raced up the stairs to put the brooms away, and raced back down for supper. A silence fell as they came, laughing, into the large dining room. Draco took a step back and stopped his laughter. Astra, reading his silence, stepped back with him and took his hand, becoming, again, the strange, solemn child he'd first met.
Slowly, conversation resumed, and Draco and Astra took places at one of the house's round tables. No one sat with them, and the seats on either side of them remained empty for the rest of their stay.
When the term started, the seats around them were filled, if for no other reason than because there were too many Slytherins to leave any chairs empty.
"We have a new program starting this year," Dumbledore told them all at the opening feast. "Sixth years will be paired with first years for one class a week. Assignments will be on your schedules on the morrow." He beamed at them. "Have a good year."
His announcement caused quite a stir.
"I don't want to be stuck with some baby first year," Millicent complained loudly.
"Draco's already got his," Pansy answered. Her eyes slid to Draco and then back to Millicent. "I hope he gets paired with her." She sniffed. "I wouldn't want to be *her* partner for the rest of the year."
As much as he tried not to react, Draco couldn't stop his shoulders from tensing. Astra carefully chose a pair of apple tarts from a tray and put one on Draco's plate while she nibbled around the edges of the other.
"Thank you," Draco said softly and bit into his own. Pansy sniffed and turned her attention to Vincent.
Astra and Draco were indeed paired together. Much to everyone's surprise, Thursday Potions was to be everyone's paired class. Gryffindors and Slytherins were in one class, and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the other.
"Today," Snape announced in the first shared class, "you will be making a simple sleeping draught. I have explained the basics to the first years. Sixth years, you will be there to assist and remind, not to make the potions yourselves. When you are done with the first potion, the sixth years will make the more complex version with assistance from their first year partners." He surveyed the class. "Gryffindor is short one first year. Ms. Granger will be available to help those pairs who are completely incapable of making a potion." He clapped his hands. "Get to work!"
Astra laid a parchment out on the table between them. Instead of notes, she had drawn a series of lines that wove in and out. In some places, there were quick sketches recognizable as Snape, cauldrons, and other items from the Potions classroom.
Draco looked sideways at Astra, and decided she was better off if she started on her own. She seemed to be doing fine, as she carefully boiled water and measured out ingredients. Draco had his book open, and he waited in vain for her to make a mistake he could correct.
"You've drawn the potion!"
Draco turned to look at Granger. He hadn't even heard her approaching.
"Look," she said. "She has." She traced the lines on the parchment. "It's the recipe." Granger looked at Astra thoughtfully. "Have you done it all right?"
Astra carefully added the next two ingredients to the boiling cauldron and immediately dumped in three cups of cold water.
"She has," Draco answered. He smirked. "She's even better than you."
"We'll see about that." But Granger came back around several times to check their progress on both the simple and complex versions.
"Your notes are unconventional, Miss Conroy," Snape said when he came around to grade potions, "but your potion doesn't seem to have suffered." He tested Draco's potion. "Well done, Mr. Malfoy."
After another two weeks of shared potions, and of keeping an eye on how Astra studied, or didn't study--she seemed leery of Transformation, but loved Potions--Draco decided it was time to find some answers.
"What do you want?" Weasley demanded when Draco found Potter and his sidekicks on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Draco ignored his words and spoke past him. "Granger, what's autism?" he asked.
Granger looked startled and then thoughtful. "No one really knows," she answered. "It's a diagnosis for a collection of symptoms, but no one knows what causes it or how to treat it." She eyed him curiously. "Is that what's wrong with Astra?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.
Granger frowned. "Who told you she might be autistic?"
There was no real reason not to tell her, but old habits die hard. "It was just something I heard," he said evasively.
"It would explain things," Granger mused.
"Maybe," Draco said and turned back toward the castle. The Gryffindor goody-two-shoes didn't try to stop him.
Four days later, an owl arrived for him at breakfast. It dropped a small package on the table and flew away. Draco unrolled the scroll taped to it.
"The library doesn't have anything on autism. I asked my parents to send these." It was signed "Hermione Granger" in a simple, neat script.
Draco looked across the room at Granger watching him, and then down at Astra at his side. He tucked the neatly wrapped package in among his school books and poured more juice for himself and for Astra.
Granger found him in the library the next day as he was finishing the second book her parents had sent him. "Are they helping you understand Astra?" she asked, putting her books down on the table and taking the chair next to him.
"I don't know. Maybe." Draco gestured at the books. "They tell me what autism is, and what can be done for it, but I don't know how she was raised. I don't know if any of it's been tried." He slammed the book shut in frustration and ignored the glares from other students and Madam Pince.
"Can't you ask?"
It was such a stupid question that he only looked at her until she blushed.
"Her parents are dead. Her relatives forgot about her until her letter came. She was mostly raised by house elves."
Granger made a noncommittal noise. "You could try some of it anyway." She pulled one of the books toward her. "Her potions notes are unconventional, but very visual. You could try writing out the instructions and having her work from the drawings and the written instructions."
Draco frowned. "She likes to read, but only things she chooses." He shook his head. "She only reads some of her History of Magic lessons, and she hates Transformation."
Granger's thoughtful frown matched his own. "Well, we'll think of something." She smiled at him and glanced at the door where Weasel and Potter hadn't noticed them yet. "I've got to go, but I'll keep thinking about it." She grabbed her books and slipped away to join her friends.
She was wrong. Writing out Potions formulae for Astra wasn't going to help her. She didn't have a problem with writing, she just preferred drawing for Potions. And she had the best marks in her class, so why should he try to change that?
The only change he made was a more conscious effort to talk to Astra. If nothing else, it would help him remember how to talk. It wasn't something he did much of anymore.
Granger owled him a second missive the next week. "I asked around," she had written at the top. "Dobby knew where to find the Conroys' old house elves. I sent him with a spelled quill to find out about Astra." What followed was an account, obviously cleaned up, probably by the spelled quill, of how Astra's parents had abandoned and ignored her. She hadn't been the cute, responsive thing they'd wanted in a baby, and so they'd just turned her over to the house elves with orders not to let the child die. The house elves had fed her, and one of them made sure she had a tutor when she was old enough, but it was no wonder she was so strange.
"At least we have some answers," Granger had written at the bottom of the scroll. "No one took care of her the way children should be taken care of."
Answers indeed, and none of them helped.
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger," Snape called at the end of one of the shared Potions classes. "A moment of your time."
"Go on," Draco said to Astra. "Go have tea in the common room, and we'll go flying afterwards."
She obviously wasn't happy about it, but she went.
"Ms. Granger tells me that Miss Conroy's abilities are nothing short of remarkable," Snape began.
Draco shot an accusing look at Granger.
Snape raised his eyebrows and continued. "Her written work is also exemplary. Professor Flitwick is quite impressed with her ability to learn Charms. However, Professors McGonagall and Binns are quite concerned about her abilities." He looked from one of them to the other. "She does not pay proper attention to Professor McGonagall and only manages to complete half of Professor Binns' assignments. We would appreciate any suggestions you have."
"Astra only does what interests her," Draco told him frankly. "They'd have to make their lessons interesting to her."
"And how might they do that?" Snape asked archly.
"I don't know," Draco admitted.
"Relate it to her experience," Granger offered. "I'd guess she did a superb job on Professor Binns' assignment on pre-Roman magic in Britain."
"He did mention that as one of her better efforts."
Granger nodded. "She went to Stonehenge. She saw something from that time, and it made the assignment interesting to her."
Snape looked thoughtful. "We shall consider that." He nodded at them. "You may go."
It was with a sense of relief that Draco escaped the Potions lab. Granger's hand on his arm stopped him from retreating to the common room.
"What happened at Stonehenge?" she asked.
Draco stared at her coldly until she removed her hand. "I don't know."
She frowned. "But you were there."
"I don't know what happened." He started to step away. "I promised Astra we'd go flying this afternoon."
She continued to frown at him. "There was something--" She shook her head. "Never mind. I'll remember. Have fun." She took off in the opposite direction, leaving Draco free to fulfill his promise.
The unusually good weather lasted halfway into October, and Draco and Astra took advantage of it. They went flying along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. They took their books outside and studied on the grass. They took long walks around the lake. Draco included Astra in nearly everything he did. He asked her questions about her homework and told her about his. But what they enjoyed most were the days when no one was using the Quidditch pitch and they could take a Quaffle out and play, just the two of them.
It was on one such afternoon that the Quaffle dropped away from them and they went swooping down after it. Draco, laughing, had just scooped it up when he, then Astra, noticed the new arrivals.
"What do you want?" he challenged.
"We just came to play," Granger answered quickly. Then, "Can we play with you? The three of us against the two of you."
"Hermione," Weasel protested.
"They were here first," she pointed out. That was Granger for you, always fair.
"We can win," Potter said confidently. "He's not even playing Quidditch anymore," which was true, but probably not for the reasons Potter thought.
"And he should be used to defeat," Weasel said meanly.
"Ron!" Granger admonished.
Draco didn't deign to respond.
As they played, Draco found that Astra's uncanny ability to appear unnoticed at his side extended to an ability to be exactly where he needed her to be on the pitch. They traded goals, but even so, the Gryffindors were hard-pressed to keep up. They were tied when the supper bell called an end to their game.
"She'd make a good Chaser," Granger murmured to him on the way back to the castle proper.
Draco nodded and reached out to take Astra's hand. "She's good," he agreed.
"Hermione, come on!"
Granger smiled at Draco and Astra and ran to catch up with Potter and Weasel.
The weather cooled, and Quidditch season started with it. Draco and Astra went to the matches with the rest of the school and sat high in the back row. Instead of cheering with the other students, they watched the game intently, absorbing strategies and style. Granger joined them at one game when Potter and Weasel were stuck in detention, and she talked strategy with them and booed what she deemed to be bad calls.
Halloween dawned clear and cold. It fell on a Thursday, the day of their shared Potions class, and Snape's classroom was cold enough that they all huddled around their cauldrons, drawing as much warmth from them as they could. Snape was extra snappish, and Granger went from pair to pair, sharing everyone else's warmth.
Giant jack-o-lanterns and bats brushing the ceiling greeted them at supper. The Great Hall was warm, and Draco was more comfortable than he'd been all day. He stuffed himself and coaxed Astra into eating a second helping of dessert before Dumbledore brought out the entertainment. Somehow, he'd gotten a live band to play, and while no one had ever heard of them, they weren't half bad.
"Dance with me," Astra asked when they began a slow waltz. "Narcissa taught you, mother said."
Draco froze for a moment, and then, at Astra's incessant tugging on his hand, took her out into a clear space. Once they were halfway through the song, other students began to join them on the impromptu dance floor.
Astra grew slowly more restless.
Three dances later, she pulled away from him and stopped in the middle of the floor. "The gates open," she said, and reached her arms up. The sleeves of her robe fell away from her pale arms.
The chatter of the Hall quieted. Draco followed the other students' gazes up toward the ceiling. Directly above Astra's cupped hands was a, well, he didn't really know what it was. A large sphere, glowing golden. It blotted out the moon in the ceiling. It got larger as they watched.
Draco dropped his gaze to Astra. Her face shone with joy. She suddenly flung her hands outward, and the sphere shattered, throwing sparks down. For people about to be hit by some kind of glowing spark, the students and staff were remarkably calm.
One of the sparks descended on him, and it was wonderful. Power suffused through him.
Astra closed her hands together again and brought them down in front of her body. She turned to Draco. "Midnight is a silly time," she said clearly. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a cool, chaste kiss. "Good night," she said. "Happy Halloween." And she drifted out of the Hall.
"What was that?" Granger asked.
Draco touched his fingers to his lips. "I don't know." He met her eyes and found her looking as stunned as he felt. "What do you think?"
"I think maybe we don't really know anything about her." Granger smiled at him, a surprisingly uncomplicated expression. "Happy Halloween." And she, too, left the Hall. Nearly everyone, Draco noticed, had left. He watched a few more people drift away, singly and in small groups. He looked up at the unchanged ceiling for a long moment. Then he sighed and left. A quick scan of the common room showed him small groups sharing treats and laughing quietly. No one showed any interest in him, and he went through the common room and down the hall to his own room.
Part 2
This is very long, so I'm breaking it into two entries. If you want to know what happens after the end of the story, that's at the end of the second one.
Someone, Snape maybe, introduced him to the girl. Astra. Dirty blond hair in twin braids down the sides of her face. She looked familiar for a moment, but then he realized it was only because she looked like her mother.
He'd known her mother, of course. She'd been one of his own mother's best friends. He shoved the connection away and looked down at the girl with as blank a face as he could manage.
The girl's eyes cleared, he saw it happen, and she very clearly said his name. "Draco." Draco caught the flash of startlement on the face of nearly every adult in the room before the girl reached out and took his hand in hers. She stepped to his side and turned so that they were facing the adults together.
"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you seem to have made a friend." Dumbledore beamed at him. "Why don't you show her around the school?"
Because I don't want to, he nearly said, but there was no one to keep him from getting in trouble now. He settled for a sullen, "Yes, sir," and pulled the girl out into the hall with him. Once out of the teachers' sight, he pulled his hand away, or tried to. Her grip was stronger than he thought. "Let go," he demanded.
The girl gripped his hand tighter, and he jerked at her hard enough to make her take a stumbling step toward him. She didn't let go. He scowled at her.
"Let go."
She met his eyes, and her eyes cleared again. It was unnerving to watch. "No," she said in a strange, clear voice that was as unnerving as her gaze.
"Fine." He tugged on her hand and took her down the stairs to the main entryway. "You've seen the Great Hall," he said, gesturing at the doors. He gestured at the various staircases. "They move around. You'll learn." Or not, he thought, glancing down at the girl's stillness and blank face, but kept that thought to himself.
"You'll want to learn the path to Slytherin house quickly." He tugged her hand to make her look up at him. "Pay attention so you won't get lost." He led her two flights down a staircase into a hallway. "This is the quickest way," he explained as he pulled a tapestry aside just enough to slip behind it. They went through a short, magically lit passageway and emerged in another hallway. He led her a few feet farther and pushed open an unmarked door. It led into the Slytherin common room.
"The tapestry only lets Slytherins in." He gave her a warning look. "The other houses don't know anything about it, so don't tell anyone about it." As if that were likely to happen, he thought.
"You'll need to know the other way too." He took her out through another door. He led her through the passageways that took them along an upwardly sloping path. He pointed out the tapestry when they passed it. They emerged in the entryway where they'd started.
"You can learn how to get to the classrooms later," he told her with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's go outside." With no agreement or disagreement from her, he took her through the doors out into the front courtyard. "Care of Magical Creatures is over there," he told her, pointing out the main space as they left the protection of the castle walls. "The greenhouses for Herbology." He pointed them out too. "The Forbidden Forest." He shot her a stern look. "Stay out of there. It's forbidden. There are dangerous things in there." They walked on in silence.
"And this is the Quidditch pitch." Draco gestured at the expanse of grass. "You have seen a Quidditch match, haven't you?"
She looked up at the goalposts. "Wind. Flying. Wind. Bludger. Wind, wind, wind. Snatch the snitch!" She turned her face toward him. "Mother played. Narcissa wouldn't. Mother did."
Draco stepped back as far as their clasped hands would let him. "Don't. Don't talk about her." He took another step back, and she took one forward to stay with him. He looked away from her gaze. "Do you know how to fly?" he asked her.
"Yes." Her answer was surprisingly clear and uncomplicated.
"Come on." He took her around the curve of the pitch to a shed he knew housed practice brooms. "I'm not taking you up on a broom with me."
She considered that and dropped his hand in favor of the broom he handed her.
Draco watched her closely as she mounted the broom. Only when she was safely hovering a few feet above the ground did he mount his own broom. He threw her a challenging look. "I'll race you to the other end."
"Three," she said, and they took off across the pitch. Much to Draco's surprise, she finished mere centimeters behind him.
"I guess you can fly," he admitted grudgingly.
With the smile on her face and her wind-reddened cheeks, Astra could have been any wizarding child. She jerked her broom up sharply and made a quick loop in the air. She was laughing when she came back to rest at Draco's side.
The sound of a bell came from the direction of the castle, and Draco turned them back toward the shed. "That's the bell for supper," he explained. They flew back across the pitch and Draco secured their brooms. Astra took his hand again once he closed the door of the shed. He looked down at their joined hands and decided it wasn't worth trying to get her to let go.
They entered the Great Hall together. They were a little late, and nearly everyone else was already seated. Draco tried to make Astra sit with the other first year Slytherins, but she stubbornly clung to his hand. He gave up and took her down the table to sit with him.
"New girlfriend?" Zambini asked.
Draco just shook his head, too weary to even protest. He settled Astra into the chair next to him and chose his meal from the plates on the table. He let the muted conversations of the half-full school wash over him while he surreptitiously watched Astra choose only a few small things and then only pick at those. Homesickness? he wondered. Or just another symptom of her oddity? She finished her meal, such as it was, well before anyone else at the table. When she was done, she crossed her hands primly on her lap. The gesture belonged to an octogenarian, not an eleven-year-old.
She took his hand again when he stood to leave the table. They took the shortcut back to the common room. "I want a book from my trunk," he told her. "You can't come to my room with me." She considered that and seemed to accept it as she released his hand.
Draco came back with his book and settled into one of the high-backed chairs facing the fire. Before he could open his book, Astra appeared carrying one of the large silver and green cushions from the corners of the room. She dropped it on the floor and settled down on it with her back resting against his chair.
Draco looked down at her neatly parted and braided hair. He looked over her shoulder to see the book on her lap. It wasn't anything he recognized. He opened his own book and set it on his lap. The book mostly provided him with an excuse not to talk to anyone as he stared into the fire and tried not to feel.
He didn't say goodnight when left the common room, but he could feel the force of her gaze following him out.
He felt that gaze often over the next few months. Summer was hard. They'd let the students come back to Hogwarts, but they hadn't given them anything to *do*, so they were left to entertain themselves. Draco went flying and pretended to read and spent more time in the library than anyone else around.
Astra often appeared at his side wherever he happened to be. She was so quiet and her appearances so sudden that if he didn't know better he would have thought she were Apparating. Draco often wondered just what was wrong with her, but he didn't know who to ask.
In the middle of August, Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast one morning. "I hope you are all enjoying your summer," he began with that permanent smile of his after he'd gotten their silence. "As you know, the fall term will be starting in a few weeks. As an end of summer treat, a few of your professors have volunteered to organize a field trip for you. You will have the chance to visit Stonehenge with those who understand its true purpose." He beamed at the suddenly interested students. "You may sign up with your head of house." Dumbledore sat down and let them return to their meals.
"I want to go," Astra suddenly announced. She looked at Draco and said, "Take me with you."
Draco opened his mouth to say he hadn't decided to go, but realized that that was exactly what he wanted. A change of scenery. "I'll tell Snape," he said instead. Later, when Snape was in his office to take names, he added both his and Astra's to the list.
The next week, he received an owl at breakfast summoning him to Snape's office before tea. He spent the day half-watching Astra and wondering why Snape was summoning him.
"Come in," Snape called in answer to his knock. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy," he said when Draco came in. "Please, sit." Snape gestured at the chairs arranged in a half-circle in front of his desk.
There was only one chair left, and Draco sat at one end of the curve next to, of all people, Harry Potter. He recognized the other two as well, Ravenclaw's Keeper and one of Hufflepuff's Chasers.
"I will be one of the professors chaperoning the trip to Stonehenge," Snape told them gravely. "The four of you are all well-known and well-respected members of your houses." Snape steepled his fingers before him and gazed at them sternly. "You will assist me and the other professors in keeping order."
Bertram, the Ravenclaw Keeper asked, "Isn't that what the prefects are supposed to do?"
"This is not a simple excursion," Snape reminded them. "The prefects will be in attendance as well, but with the four of you as well, we should be able to keep everyone in line."
When there were no further questions, Snape handed out scrolls to each of them. "This is our schedule and a few reminders of what we will expect of you." He glared at each of them in turn. "I expect you to behave yourselves."
"Yes, sir," they answered.
Snape looked mildly pleased. "Dismissed," he said with a wave. "Mr. Malfoy," he said as they began to file out, "a moment, please."
Draco stopped and settled himself back into his chair. He ignored the curious glance Potter threw toward him on the way out. "Sir?" he asked, when the door closed behind the other three.
"Mr. Malfoy," Snape peered down at him. "You will need to pay extra attention to Miss Conroy." Draco wondered for a moment who Snape was talking about before he realized that he meant Astra. "Stonehenge is a place of great magic, old magic. We don't know how she will react to it."
Seeing his opportunity, Draco asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Snape met his eyes steadily. "We don't know. If she were a Muggle, they would call it autism. As it is, we don't know." He stared at a point over Draco's head for a moment. "Her parents--" Snape stopped. "Her parents," he said gently, "were more involved in their own lives than in hers. From what we can gather, she was raised mostly by the house elves." Snape scowled. "I don't think her family even remembered her until her letter arrived."
Draco nodded in understanding. "I'll keep my eye on her at Stonehenge."
"Yes, she does seem to respond to you." Snape pierced him with a look. "Did you know her before?"
Draco shook his head. "No. I knew her mother--" Draco had to fight to keep his voice steady-- "but I never met her."
Snape watched him. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy." He waved his hand. "Take your parchment and you may go."
"Thank you, sir." Draco took the scroll and carefully let himself out of Snape's office. He took a shortcut through an unused dungeon and returned to the common room just in time for tea.
Draco, by virtue of seniority and the sense of awe that seemed to surround him in the common room now, managed to get one of the tea trays for two. He took it with him to one of the sofas at the edge of the room. He put the tray on the low table in front of the sofa and poured for two. Astra arrived just as he dropped a sugar cube into his cup. She took half a pumpkin scone and nibbled on it as she settled onto the couch next to him. When she was done with her scone, she pulled her legs up under herself and pulled out the book she was travelling with. She sipped her tea as she read, and Draco refilled her cup when she finished it.
Draco unrolled the scroll Snape had given him and began to read. The first section of the scroll was an itinerary--train times, lodging details, name of their tour guide. Under that were the responsibilities Snape expected him to take on. And at the very bottom, there was an extra note: "Miss Conroy will need close supervision. Please take extra care on this trip to stay with her." Draco let the scroll fall to his lap. He reached out and brushed a small tendril of Astra's hair back behind her ear. She seemed not to notice, but he soon found her head against his shoulder.
He took her flying a few days later. They went out to the Quidditch pitch and raced back and forth until they were both laughing and winded. Draco then pulled close to her and they drifted slowly to the ground.
"Astra," Draco said, dropping onto a bench next to her. "Astra," he said again, and this time she met his eyes. "We're going to Stonehenge in a few days."
"Yes," she said. "The stones of power."
"Yes," he said. "Astra, you need to stay with me when we're there." He was relieved to see her eyes staying clear and focused. "Can you do that?"
She smiled at him as if he were the odd one. "Yes," she answered. She grinned at him and picked up her broom. "Across the pitch," she challenged, and Draco grinned back and laughed as they flew up into the air.
The train stopped for an exact forty minutes in London. The students stayed on the train while those who had not yet returned to Hogwarts but had chosen to visit Stonehenge boarded the train. Draco heard Potter greeting his Gryffindor friends, and he watched Gregory and Vincent take a compartment with Pansy and Millicent.
"Sorrow lasts," Astra commented, jerking Draco out of his contemplation of his schoolmates. He looked sharply at Astra, but relaxed when she continued reading. No one joined them, and they had the compartment to themselves the rest of the way to (???) where they were to spend the night.
They were staying in a mansion only a few kilometers from Stonehenge, close enough to walk if they chose. Draco sent Astra with Amelia, the Hufflepuff Chaser, to leave her things in her room. When Draco came down from his own room, Astra was in the middle of the entryway warily watching an older girl.
Draco came up behind Astra. "She doesn't like," he started to explain. He saw Granger's shoulders tense and knew she expected him to say "Gryffindors" or "Mudbloods". "Strangers," he finished. "This is Hermione Granger," he told Astra. "Granger, this is Astra Conroy."
"The moon howls," Astra said, and slipped her hand into his.
Granger looked startled. Serves her right, Draco thought snidely. Out loud, he said to Astra, "Snape said we could go exploring as long as we don't go very far."
"The garden," Astra said.
Draco nodded. "The garden, then." They swept past Granger and out the door. Astra pulled Draco down the steps and around the corner of the house into the gardens. They spent a few hours exploring the gardens before supper. Draco had to keep a close watch on her to keep her out of the belladonna patches.
Draco was aware of Granger's eyes on them all through dinner, and he tried not to wonder what she was thinking.
The professors let them divide themselves up into groups, and in the morning, Snape led one group down the path while McGonagall went with the other group in carriages. Draco and Astra, and Potter and his friends, went with Snape. Most of the other Slytherins went with McGonagall.
Draco and Astra walked silently. Potter and his friends chattered the whole way.
"Oh," Astra said in wonder when the stones of Stonehenge came into view. Draco was inclined to agree with her, and he squeezed her hand.
There was only one tour guide, with an amplifying spell, for all of them. Draco tried to listen while Astra slowly pulled him to the outside of the group. The first time she tried to move away from them altogether, he pulled her back. The second time, she succeeded in pulling him away enough that they were at the back of the group.
"Astra," he said sternly when she did it the third time, but she was not to be deterred. She was surprisingly strong, and she dragged him inexorably toward the center of the inner circle of stones. "Astra," he said again, but she kept walking.
"Power," she said, as they stopped in front of the altar stone. She reached out and touched the stone. "Old power."
Draco could feel *something* that itched along his skin. There were muted voices behind him, and he assumed the others had noticed their absence. He tried to pull Astra away from the stone, but she wouldn't budge.
Astra's voice cracked through the air. "Stop!" She jerked away from the stone and leaned heavily against Draco. "I want to leave," she said, her eyes clear and her voice shaking.
Draco staggered under the returning rush of sound. "Yes," he said, and cringed at the volume of his own voice. He looked for Professor Snape, and found him cutting his way through the students.
"Mr. Malfoy," he roared, "what is going on here?"
Astra huddled against Draco and he found himself turning to shield her from Snape. "I don't know," he admitted to Snape. He gestured at the altar stone. "She touched it and something happened." He touched Astra's hair lightly. "She wants to leave."
"That may be best," Snape snapped. He looked around at the gathered students. "Get back to the lecture," he ordered. "I suppose one of us will have to accompany you," he said grudgingly.
"I remember the way," Draco said.
"You can't go by yourselves," McGonagall said.
Draco met her eyes with a level gaze. "What's to harm us?"
"I think Mr. Malfoy is responsible enough to make sure they return safely," Snape said.
"Take one of the carriages," McGonagall suggested.
Draco could feel a small movement from Astra. "We would prefer to walk."
"Nonsense! You've had a shock. Take a carriage."
"We're fine," Draco said, and now that the shock of it was wearing off, he felt strangely energized. Astra did too, if her agitated fidgeting was anything to go by. "We'd like to walk."
"What's to harm them?" Snape asked.
McGongall was outraged. "We can't allow students to go wandering around the countryside unaccompanied!"
"They only have to follow the road. Mr. Malfoy is quite capable of that."
McGonagall sniffed. "Send a message spell when you get there."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Professor Snape." Draco turned Astra out of the curve of his arm and let her drag him out of the central circle of stones. She slowed down a fraction when they cleared the first circle and returned to a normal walk once they made it out of the outer circle. Even Draco relaxed once they were back on the road.
"I think there are brooms in the house," Draco told Astra. He squeezed her hand. "We'll go flying when we get back."
She squeezed back and moved closer to him for the rest of the walk.
There were brooms, in a closet in one of the dormitory-style rooms. Draco sent a quick message spell back to the professors, and then he and Astra tried out brooms until they found two that would suit them. They took the brooms down the stairs and out onto the porch.
"I'll race you to the belladonna patch," Draco offered. He waited until they were both hovering over the porch before he gave the signal. As usual, she was only centimeters behind him.
They kept busy flying in and out of the gardens until the first group of students began to arrive, when they swooped back down to the porch.
"You seem to have suffered no ill effects from your experience this morning," McGonagall observed.
Astra stepped back and to the side so she was half-hiding behind Draco. McGonagall frowned, but forbore from comment.
"No, ma'am," Draco answered for both of them. He reached behind himself and took Astra's hand. "If you'll excuse us, Professor, we have to return the brooms."
"Of course." McGonagall moved out of their way, allowing them to cross the porch and go back into the house.
They raced up the stairs to put the brooms away, and raced back down for supper. A silence fell as they came, laughing, into the large dining room. Draco took a step back and stopped his laughter. Astra, reading his silence, stepped back with him and took his hand, becoming, again, the strange, solemn child he'd first met.
Slowly, conversation resumed, and Draco and Astra took places at one of the house's round tables. No one sat with them, and the seats on either side of them remained empty for the rest of their stay.
When the term started, the seats around them were filled, if for no other reason than because there were too many Slytherins to leave any chairs empty.
"We have a new program starting this year," Dumbledore told them all at the opening feast. "Sixth years will be paired with first years for one class a week. Assignments will be on your schedules on the morrow." He beamed at them. "Have a good year."
His announcement caused quite a stir.
"I don't want to be stuck with some baby first year," Millicent complained loudly.
"Draco's already got his," Pansy answered. Her eyes slid to Draco and then back to Millicent. "I hope he gets paired with her." She sniffed. "I wouldn't want to be *her* partner for the rest of the year."
As much as he tried not to react, Draco couldn't stop his shoulders from tensing. Astra carefully chose a pair of apple tarts from a tray and put one on Draco's plate while she nibbled around the edges of the other.
"Thank you," Draco said softly and bit into his own. Pansy sniffed and turned her attention to Vincent.
Astra and Draco were indeed paired together. Much to everyone's surprise, Thursday Potions was to be everyone's paired class. Gryffindors and Slytherins were in one class, and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the other.
"Today," Snape announced in the first shared class, "you will be making a simple sleeping draught. I have explained the basics to the first years. Sixth years, you will be there to assist and remind, not to make the potions yourselves. When you are done with the first potion, the sixth years will make the more complex version with assistance from their first year partners." He surveyed the class. "Gryffindor is short one first year. Ms. Granger will be available to help those pairs who are completely incapable of making a potion." He clapped his hands. "Get to work!"
Astra laid a parchment out on the table between them. Instead of notes, she had drawn a series of lines that wove in and out. In some places, there were quick sketches recognizable as Snape, cauldrons, and other items from the Potions classroom.
Draco looked sideways at Astra, and decided she was better off if she started on her own. She seemed to be doing fine, as she carefully boiled water and measured out ingredients. Draco had his book open, and he waited in vain for her to make a mistake he could correct.
"You've drawn the potion!"
Draco turned to look at Granger. He hadn't even heard her approaching.
"Look," she said. "She has." She traced the lines on the parchment. "It's the recipe." Granger looked at Astra thoughtfully. "Have you done it all right?"
Astra carefully added the next two ingredients to the boiling cauldron and immediately dumped in three cups of cold water.
"She has," Draco answered. He smirked. "She's even better than you."
"We'll see about that." But Granger came back around several times to check their progress on both the simple and complex versions.
"Your notes are unconventional, Miss Conroy," Snape said when he came around to grade potions, "but your potion doesn't seem to have suffered." He tested Draco's potion. "Well done, Mr. Malfoy."
After another two weeks of shared potions, and of keeping an eye on how Astra studied, or didn't study--she seemed leery of Transformation, but loved Potions--Draco decided it was time to find some answers.
"What do you want?" Weasley demanded when Draco found Potter and his sidekicks on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Draco ignored his words and spoke past him. "Granger, what's autism?" he asked.
Granger looked startled and then thoughtful. "No one really knows," she answered. "It's a diagnosis for a collection of symptoms, but no one knows what causes it or how to treat it." She eyed him curiously. "Is that what's wrong with Astra?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.
Granger frowned. "Who told you she might be autistic?"
There was no real reason not to tell her, but old habits die hard. "It was just something I heard," he said evasively.
"It would explain things," Granger mused.
"Maybe," Draco said and turned back toward the castle. The Gryffindor goody-two-shoes didn't try to stop him.
Four days later, an owl arrived for him at breakfast. It dropped a small package on the table and flew away. Draco unrolled the scroll taped to it.
"The library doesn't have anything on autism. I asked my parents to send these." It was signed "Hermione Granger" in a simple, neat script.
Draco looked across the room at Granger watching him, and then down at Astra at his side. He tucked the neatly wrapped package in among his school books and poured more juice for himself and for Astra.
Granger found him in the library the next day as he was finishing the second book her parents had sent him. "Are they helping you understand Astra?" she asked, putting her books down on the table and taking the chair next to him.
"I don't know. Maybe." Draco gestured at the books. "They tell me what autism is, and what can be done for it, but I don't know how she was raised. I don't know if any of it's been tried." He slammed the book shut in frustration and ignored the glares from other students and Madam Pince.
"Can't you ask?"
It was such a stupid question that he only looked at her until she blushed.
"Her parents are dead. Her relatives forgot about her until her letter came. She was mostly raised by house elves."
Granger made a noncommittal noise. "You could try some of it anyway." She pulled one of the books toward her. "Her potions notes are unconventional, but very visual. You could try writing out the instructions and having her work from the drawings and the written instructions."
Draco frowned. "She likes to read, but only things she chooses." He shook his head. "She only reads some of her History of Magic lessons, and she hates Transformation."
Granger's thoughtful frown matched his own. "Well, we'll think of something." She smiled at him and glanced at the door where Weasel and Potter hadn't noticed them yet. "I've got to go, but I'll keep thinking about it." She grabbed her books and slipped away to join her friends.
She was wrong. Writing out Potions formulae for Astra wasn't going to help her. She didn't have a problem with writing, she just preferred drawing for Potions. And she had the best marks in her class, so why should he try to change that?
The only change he made was a more conscious effort to talk to Astra. If nothing else, it would help him remember how to talk. It wasn't something he did much of anymore.
Granger owled him a second missive the next week. "I asked around," she had written at the top. "Dobby knew where to find the Conroys' old house elves. I sent him with a spelled quill to find out about Astra." What followed was an account, obviously cleaned up, probably by the spelled quill, of how Astra's parents had abandoned and ignored her. She hadn't been the cute, responsive thing they'd wanted in a baby, and so they'd just turned her over to the house elves with orders not to let the child die. The house elves had fed her, and one of them made sure she had a tutor when she was old enough, but it was no wonder she was so strange.
"At least we have some answers," Granger had written at the bottom of the scroll. "No one took care of her the way children should be taken care of."
Answers indeed, and none of them helped.
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger," Snape called at the end of one of the shared Potions classes. "A moment of your time."
"Go on," Draco said to Astra. "Go have tea in the common room, and we'll go flying afterwards."
She obviously wasn't happy about it, but she went.
"Ms. Granger tells me that Miss Conroy's abilities are nothing short of remarkable," Snape began.
Draco shot an accusing look at Granger.
Snape raised his eyebrows and continued. "Her written work is also exemplary. Professor Flitwick is quite impressed with her ability to learn Charms. However, Professors McGonagall and Binns are quite concerned about her abilities." He looked from one of them to the other. "She does not pay proper attention to Professor McGonagall and only manages to complete half of Professor Binns' assignments. We would appreciate any suggestions you have."
"Astra only does what interests her," Draco told him frankly. "They'd have to make their lessons interesting to her."
"And how might they do that?" Snape asked archly.
"I don't know," Draco admitted.
"Relate it to her experience," Granger offered. "I'd guess she did a superb job on Professor Binns' assignment on pre-Roman magic in Britain."
"He did mention that as one of her better efforts."
Granger nodded. "She went to Stonehenge. She saw something from that time, and it made the assignment interesting to her."
Snape looked thoughtful. "We shall consider that." He nodded at them. "You may go."
It was with a sense of relief that Draco escaped the Potions lab. Granger's hand on his arm stopped him from retreating to the common room.
"What happened at Stonehenge?" she asked.
Draco stared at her coldly until she removed her hand. "I don't know."
She frowned. "But you were there."
"I don't know what happened." He started to step away. "I promised Astra we'd go flying this afternoon."
She continued to frown at him. "There was something--" She shook her head. "Never mind. I'll remember. Have fun." She took off in the opposite direction, leaving Draco free to fulfill his promise.
The unusually good weather lasted halfway into October, and Draco and Astra took advantage of it. They went flying along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. They took their books outside and studied on the grass. They took long walks around the lake. Draco included Astra in nearly everything he did. He asked her questions about her homework and told her about his. But what they enjoyed most were the days when no one was using the Quidditch pitch and they could take a Quaffle out and play, just the two of them.
It was on one such afternoon that the Quaffle dropped away from them and they went swooping down after it. Draco, laughing, had just scooped it up when he, then Astra, noticed the new arrivals.
"What do you want?" he challenged.
"We just came to play," Granger answered quickly. Then, "Can we play with you? The three of us against the two of you."
"Hermione," Weasel protested.
"They were here first," she pointed out. That was Granger for you, always fair.
"We can win," Potter said confidently. "He's not even playing Quidditch anymore," which was true, but probably not for the reasons Potter thought.
"And he should be used to defeat," Weasel said meanly.
"Ron!" Granger admonished.
Draco didn't deign to respond.
As they played, Draco found that Astra's uncanny ability to appear unnoticed at his side extended to an ability to be exactly where he needed her to be on the pitch. They traded goals, but even so, the Gryffindors were hard-pressed to keep up. They were tied when the supper bell called an end to their game.
"She'd make a good Chaser," Granger murmured to him on the way back to the castle proper.
Draco nodded and reached out to take Astra's hand. "She's good," he agreed.
"Hermione, come on!"
Granger smiled at Draco and Astra and ran to catch up with Potter and Weasel.
The weather cooled, and Quidditch season started with it. Draco and Astra went to the matches with the rest of the school and sat high in the back row. Instead of cheering with the other students, they watched the game intently, absorbing strategies and style. Granger joined them at one game when Potter and Weasel were stuck in detention, and she talked strategy with them and booed what she deemed to be bad calls.
Halloween dawned clear and cold. It fell on a Thursday, the day of their shared Potions class, and Snape's classroom was cold enough that they all huddled around their cauldrons, drawing as much warmth from them as they could. Snape was extra snappish, and Granger went from pair to pair, sharing everyone else's warmth.
Giant jack-o-lanterns and bats brushing the ceiling greeted them at supper. The Great Hall was warm, and Draco was more comfortable than he'd been all day. He stuffed himself and coaxed Astra into eating a second helping of dessert before Dumbledore brought out the entertainment. Somehow, he'd gotten a live band to play, and while no one had ever heard of them, they weren't half bad.
"Dance with me," Astra asked when they began a slow waltz. "Narcissa taught you, mother said."
Draco froze for a moment, and then, at Astra's incessant tugging on his hand, took her out into a clear space. Once they were halfway through the song, other students began to join them on the impromptu dance floor.
Astra grew slowly more restless.
Three dances later, she pulled away from him and stopped in the middle of the floor. "The gates open," she said, and reached her arms up. The sleeves of her robe fell away from her pale arms.
The chatter of the Hall quieted. Draco followed the other students' gazes up toward the ceiling. Directly above Astra's cupped hands was a, well, he didn't really know what it was. A large sphere, glowing golden. It blotted out the moon in the ceiling. It got larger as they watched.
Draco dropped his gaze to Astra. Her face shone with joy. She suddenly flung her hands outward, and the sphere shattered, throwing sparks down. For people about to be hit by some kind of glowing spark, the students and staff were remarkably calm.
One of the sparks descended on him, and it was wonderful. Power suffused through him.
Astra closed her hands together again and brought them down in front of her body. She turned to Draco. "Midnight is a silly time," she said clearly. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a cool, chaste kiss. "Good night," she said. "Happy Halloween." And she drifted out of the Hall.
"What was that?" Granger asked.
Draco touched his fingers to his lips. "I don't know." He met her eyes and found her looking as stunned as he felt. "What do you think?"
"I think maybe we don't really know anything about her." Granger smiled at him, a surprisingly uncomplicated expression. "Happy Halloween." And she, too, left the Hall. Nearly everyone, Draco noticed, had left. He watched a few more people drift away, singly and in small groups. He looked up at the unchanged ceiling for a long moment. Then he sighed and left. A quick scan of the common room showed him small groups sharing treats and laughing quietly. No one showed any interest in him, and he went through the common room and down the hall to his own room.
Part 2