Tethred
People were all around me, most prominently my mother. The reason I noticed her more than anyone else wasn’t just because she was my mother, but because she had been nagging my ear off for the past thirty minutes.
“Make sure you don’t let Astoria do anything foolish this year, or I swear to God, I’ll pluck both of you out of Hogwarts in a second. Do you understand me, Daphne?”
My mother swatted at my arm, annoyed by my habit of picking at my nails. I looked up with a dazed expression, too tired to mask it.
“Yes, Mother. I’ll take good care of her. You don’t have to worry yourself so much.”
She scoffed. “Well, you didn’t do such a good job last year when your father received a call about a house party your sister threw.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off. “I don’t care about whatever excuse you’ve concocted to justify the embarrassment you and your sister caused us. Having to go to Hogwarts and show our faces to Albus—ugh, it was mortifying.”
My cheeks flushed, as they always did when things became uncomfortable. “Mother, I’m truly and deeply sorry for what happened last year, but you must understand—I can’t spend all my time managing Astoria’s every move. She’s fifteen and perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s capable or not. She’s a young girl, and she will make foolish decisions. And with her… condition…”
Ah yes, Astoria’s blood curse. She had been doing better these past few years, but every time her health improved, there was always a dark turn, followed by months of her barely hanging on. Recently, Astoria had convinced herself that if she didn’t start living her life now, she would regret it on her deathbed—which she feared would come far too soon.
I wanted to side with Astoria, to give her the freedom to live as she pleased, but Mother wouldn’t allow it, and neither would I.
After saying my final goodbyes to my mother, I boarded the train, looking for Bella. As I walked, I noticed my shoelaces had come undone, likely from the frantic rush to get ready this morning. Suddenly, a loud burst of laughter and chatter filled the air, and before I could react, I collided face-first into someone’s chest.
I looked up quickly, only to find myself staring at none other than Theodore Nott.
In my mind, I cursed every foul word known to man. Theodore looked at me like I was some sort of foreign object that didn’t belong. He raised an eyebrow.
“Are you going to move, Greengrass, or will I have to do it for you?”
I could feel the redness creeping up my face as he smirked. He chuckled to himself and disappeared into the Prefects’ bathroom.
I had vowed back in third year to never look in Theodore Nott’s direction again—or at any of his ferret looking, good-for-nothing friends. The useless pining I’d done for him back then still haunted me, a source of endless embarrassment. I wanted to vomit chocolate frogs every time I remembered the ridiculous thoughts I had in third year of me wanting to buy a love potion for him. Thankfully, I had grown out of that phase.
I continued walking, searching for an empty compartment. I caught a glimpse of white, porcelain-blond hair in one of the compartments. I turned to look inside of the compartment to see none other than Astoria.
Turning to the compartment, I saw Draco, Pansy, and Blaise lounging together like they owned the place. The air was tense as though they had been talking about a serious matter before I had entered. Astoria was seated between Draco and Pansy. Lately, she had been pursuing Draco, and while I couldn’t blame her—he was undeniably handsome—his track record with girls kept me on high alert.
“Hey, Daph, do you want to sit down?” Astoria asked, looking at me with her big, bright brown eyes.
“No, I’m going to find Bella. Be safe, okay, Astoria?”
Draco laughed and glanced at me. “There’s no need to play mummy, Daphne.”
Pansy let out her obnoxious laugh, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and stupify her right at that moment. I couldn’t have expected anything better from her, considering she’d been trying to catch Draco’s attention for years, only for him to toss her aside like a used toy every time. Sometimes I felt bad for her—then I remembered she was a total undeniable bitch.
“Bye, Astoria,” I said firmly.
I made my way to the back of the train, where I finally spotted Bella slumped on one side of a seat, her black makeup smudged, peacefully asleep. I sat down and pulled out my notebook, flipping to the section on Snape’s Potions curriculum for the year.
The train’s whistle blew, and with that, we began our journey from King’s Cross to another dreadfully long year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.