Monday Mornings Suck
Ch. 5
Astraea woke from a night of pleasant dreams with a smile on her face and hope that this day would be a good one. Grabbing her wand from beneath the pillow, she cast a quick tempus charm before launching herself out of bed. She only had fifteen minutes to get ready!
Frantically she grabbed her things before heading to the bathroom for the shortest shower in her life. She wrapped her hair in a towel while she threw on a perfectly pressed white button-up, grey vest trimmed in green, charcoal skirt, grey tights, her wand holster, and black mary-janes before racing out into the common room with her wand, tie, and robe clutched in her hand.
She skid to a stop in front of the impatient waiting form of Severus Snape. Quickly throwing her robe over her shoulders and sliding her wand into its leather sheath, she looked up at the raven-haired boy. Snape had one eyebrow raised in a condescending manner.
“I know, I know, I’m almost late. But I’m here now! Let’s head up for breakfast.” Astraea spoke trying and failing to tie her green and grey tie properly.
There was a loud sigh from the other first-year before her hands were gently slapped away. Severus quickly and skillfully righted the tie in the manner appropriate for an heir of a prominent pure-blood family. Astraea gave him a blinding smile before she started towards the common room exit.
She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and Severus clearing his throat.
“You probably should return that to your dorm room before we head out,” he spoke pointing at the towel that her hair was still wrapped tightly in, a half-smile and teasing tone betrayed his amusement of the situation.
“Ah, right. I’ll be right back! Don’t leave without me!”Astraea blushed as she raced back into her dorm. She rapidly unwound her hair from the towel before throwing it into her hamper. She returned to the common room running her fingers through her still damp hair trying to fluff it up to dry quickly.
“Okay! Now let’s head up to breakfast!” She spoke cheerfully even as embarrassment still burned behind her cheeks. Severus rolled his eyes but allowed the girl to drag him out of the common room and into the dark corridors of the dungeons.
Once they were in the stone hallway, Astraea looked both ways trying to remember how to get back to the Great Hall. Snape took pity on his fellow first-year and took the lead. The boy walked through the dungeon passageways with a surety that impressed the girl. After several minutes of twists, turns, and stairs, they found themselves standing outside the large open doors of the Great Hall.
Astraea took in the number of students already gathered in the hall as her eyes swept across the tables. She noted none of the professors were present yet, perhaps they were in a meeting? She also took note that Narcissa and Lucius were already seated in the middle of the Slytherin table surrounded by students that seemed to be their year mates. She directed her attention to the other side of the hall and brighten up when she saw that Remus and Lily were both seated near the end of the long table closest to the door. Looking at Severus, she pointed to the redhead and the young werewolf.
“That’s your friend, Evans, next to Remus right? Let’s go say hi and see how they are settling into their house,” she spoke grabbing the boy’s hand once more and the two made their way over to the opposite side of the hall from their housemates.
Astraea immediately noticed the eyes that followed them, some were simply curious while others were downright hostile but she tried to ignore them. Snape shrunk in on himself as the stares followed him as well. The young witch squeezed his hand in reassurance, forced a bright smile on her face, and called out a greeting to the two Gryffindor’s.
“Remus! Evans! Good morning, how did you two sleep last night?” she asked stopping next to the first years. She thought about taking a seat next to Remus but the weight of the glares from the older Gryffindors made her decide against it.
Remus looked up at the girl smiling brightly even as he could smell her nervousness souring her lavender scent. He also noticed all of the eyes watching their interaction which made his palms sweat. The young werewolf hated being under this much scrutiny but he also didn’t want to lose his first friend. Choking back his anxiety, he responded to the auburn-haired girl.
“Good morning,” He greeted softly with a warm smile trying to soothe both of their nerves without calling attention to them. Lily smiled at the pair as well before speaking.
“Good morning Severus! Good morning Prewett!” the green-eyed girl cheerfully greeted the pair of Slytherins unaware of the rising tension in the Great Hall. She continued speaking in a loud but friendly voice which seemed to draw even more attention to the out of place Slytherins.
“I slept okay. It’s a lot quieter here than in Cokeworth right Sev?” She turned her attention to the scrawny black-haired boy.
“Yeah it-”
Severus made to answer but before he could finish, he was launched forward into Astraea. His face smashed into her shoulder. She felt a dull crack where his nose collided with her body.
Astraea quickly steadied herself ignoring the ache in her arm. She also tried to steady the boy who was now holding his face. Turning to ask if Severus was okay, she instead came face to face with a smug James Potter and Sirius Black.
Ignoring them for a moment she noticed the blood that was beginning to seep through the boy’s fingers that were clutching his nose. Remus quickly passed her a cloth napkin as the scent of blood reached his nose. He stared at the boys with who he now shared a room with debating whether or not to intervene.
The two Gryffindor boys apparently didn’t care to be ignored any longer as Sirius began to try and provoke a reaction from the two Slytherins. Sirius swaggered forward and got in the Slytherin girl’s face. Astraea pushed Severus behind her, eyes never leaving the grey-eyed boy’s frame.
“Sorry, we didn’t see you there considering you slimy Slytherins are supposed to be on the other side of the hall,” Sirius sneered at Astraea as she was now blocking Severus, who was holding a rapidly darkening serviette to his face, from view. The bony boy made to lunge past the girl at the Black Heir but Astraea kept him still as Lily came close to figure out the extent of the damage to Severus’s nose.
“Yeah, maybe this will teach you snakes to stay where you belong,” James added with a self-satisfied smirk, chest puffed up with self-inflated pride at seemingly defending his house’s territory. It seemed that any chance at friendship with the other Heirs disappeared when she was sorted into Slytherin.
She glared at the two boys, rage bubbling inside her chest. The two pure-blood Gryffindors just continued to look down on the smaller girl physically protecting the boy whose nose they had just broken. They were proud of themselves, she realized with a jolt. This epiphany broke what little control she had over her emotions, her hair darkened to a deep violent red as her fury grew.
She ignored the gasps of surprise from around them as her attention lay fully with the two bullies in front of her.
“Attacking a fellow student on the first day of class? I would have expected better from two Gryffindors.” She spoke in an icy tone.
She could hear Lily tending to Severus so she left him in the other girl’s hands. She stared the two boys down with glacial blue eyes. James seemed a bit shaken at her change of appearance but not surprised like the rest of those paying attention to the scuffle between the two first-year Gryffindors and two first-year Slytherins. Sirius, on the other hand, just smiled even wider as if feeding off her reaction.
“We weren’t attacking anyone Prewett. We just came over to make sure Evans wasn’t being troubled by you snakes.” James spoke losing some of his bravado in the face of Astraea’s rage.
“You see Prewett, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just stayed where you belong. Now, why don’t you two slink off to the rest of your kind.” Sirius taunted before strutting past the four other first years with James in tow.
Astraea gritted her teeth before taking a calming breath, then another. She turned back to Severus and Lily.
“Here Evans, I think it’s best if we go to one of our prefects for help. I’ll make sure Snape gets all sorted out,” Astraea spoke with a calm that she didn’t feel.
She took a clean serviette from the table and covered the mostly soaked through one that Severus was still holding to his face. She addressed the two friendly Gryffndors once more before leading Snape back to the opposite side of the Great Hall.
“I’m sorry if we caused you problems. But just know that no matter what those two pricks do, I still want to be your friend. So I want both of you to call me Astraea from now on okay?” with dual nods in confirmation, and a tight smile in response, the two Slytherins made their way over to their table.
They were met by Narcissa and Lucius who had seen the altercation from the other side of the Great Hall. Lucius motioned for both of the first-years to sit while Narcissa knelt down and examined Severus’s face with a carefully concealed expression of concern. She cast a quick episkey spell causing the boy’s nose to snap back into place before muttering a cleaning spell for the blood on his face. Once that was taken care of, the daughter of House Black stood up and looked to Astraea with a hard expression.
“Explain.” It was not a request.
The Prewett heir, whose features had returned to their normal colors as she had calmed down, sat up straight and recounted everything from the moment she and Severus had entered the Great Hall to when the older students had helped them.
Narcissa’s face softened at the realization that these were just children trying to be friends and yet the status quo that existed now made continuing a friendship with two Gryffindor’s almost impossible for a Slytherin student. She looked at the pair with sorrowful eyes, this would be something that they would have to learn themselves.
“I see my warning last night was not enough to deter you from interacting with those Gryffindors.” Astraea made to speak was silenced by a delicately raised hand.
“As of now, I will only advise you to be more subtle about your relationship with them. There are many in their house who will not look upon your friendship kindly. A sure sign of this is the lack of action taken by the Gryffindor Prefects to discipline their housemates.” Narcissa continued.
“We will report this incident to Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonagall, hopefully, it will dissuade Potter and Black from starting a similar incident anytime soon. The professors should be arriving shortly.” Lucius added as he looked over the two first years, eyes staying fixed on Astraea.
“Now Prewett, would you like to explain the spectacle that you made of yourself just?” He spoke rather coldly as he took in the features that had been transformed minutes earlier.
Astraea looked down at her hands and contemplated her words for a moment. She didn’t want to give up more information than necessary to a future Death Eater and his wife but she wasn’t left with much of a choice now that the cat was out of the bag. She took a breath before looking back up into grey eyes.
“I’m a Metemorphagus. That sort of thing happens when my emotions get too intense.” She spoke softly only allowing the three other Slytherins to hear. The two prefects looked at each other in awe at the revelation while Severus’s face scrunched up in confusion.
“I’ve been working really hard to control it but sometimes it just seems impossible,” She continued bowing her head in mock shame. Narcissa analyzed the first year closely before coming to a decision. She looked at Lucius and motioned behind him to the staff now entering the hall.
“I will inform the other prefects and our Head of House about this so you won’t get in trouble for something out of your control,” Lucius spoke catching sight of the aforementioned professors entering the hall. He excused himself with a nod and made his way to intercept the Heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor.
Narcissa caught the young girl’s gaze. She felt a strange sense of pride to know that the girl purposely kept it silvery grey like so much of the Black family. Though distant she may be, Astraea was still kin. Her innate ability proved that more than any physical resemblance might. A gentle smile crossed the older girl’s face as she looked at the fierce new addition to her family.
“I have a book that you may find useful Astraea. Find me in the common room after dinner.” The smile turned to a small grimace.
“You have been blessed with a wonderful gift, but for a woman in your position, it can easily become a curse. You will need to learn how to control yourself and your power.” She spoke before turning to follow Lucius but left the pair with one last instruction.
“Watch out for each other. I fear that Cousin Sirius does not relent easily when something has caught his eye,” she said before joining her fellow prefect and the two professors.
Astraea let out a deep sigh watching the two pure-blood students speak to the professors on their behalf. She wondered if anything like this would have happened if she wasn’t around.
Did she kickstart the animosity between Severus and half of the Marauders? Was she an idiot for trying to play by the Gryffindor’s rules in the first place? Would Narcissa and Lucius still have looked out for Severus, a half-blood with nothing to his name, if Astraea hadn’t been a part of this incident? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answers.
Pushing those frustrating thoughts away, she turned in her seat and began to fill the plate in front of her with food. A spoon full of oatmeal just passed her lips when she realized that Severus was staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Lamenting the delay to her breakfast, she swallowed before turned her head to look at the black-haired boy.
With clear indication that her focus was solely on him, he launched into the questions that he had been burning to ask. His only restraint being the presence of two noble pure-bloods who no doubt would look down on him for not knowing the answers. From what he had seen from Astraea, she may be heir to a prominent pure-blood family, but she seemed more open to those of other blood statuses. She didn’t even get mad when Lily shook her hand like a muggle, just accepted it with a gentle smile and seemingly genuine offer of friendship.
“What’s a Metamorphagus?” he asked filling his own plate more so for something to do with his hands than to stave off hunger, he had gone far longer without food before.
Astraea launched into her explanation taking bites of food when Snape made his own comments or asked more questions to clarify things he didn’t understand. She was starting to realize why Snape could have easily been the brightest wizard of their age group, he thought of things in seconds that she had never even considered the entire eleven years she had possessed her ability.
They were discussing the benefits of being a Metemorphagus while serving as an Auror when they were interrupted by Professor Slughorn who came around passing out the timetables for his house. The portly man stopped by the pair of first years with a jovial expression on his face.
“Ah, Miss Prewett, and Mister Snape. Minerva and I have spoken with Mister Malfoy and Miss Black, please do let them know if you have any more troubles.” He looked directly at Astraea, his smile still in place but a strange gleam in his eye. The witch suppressed the shiver of annoyance at the dismissal of Snape in Slughorn’s mind.
“And of course, the rest of the staff will be notified of your gift so rest assured Miss Prewett they will not take house points for any unusual hair colors that you happen to produce. Now, here are your timetables.” He spoke handing over the pieces of parchment.
“Feel free to ask any of your housemates for directions if you get lost. Enjoy your breakfast!” Slughorn called cheerfully as he continued down the table passing out timetables to the rest of the Slytherin students.
Astraea’s gaze followed him for a moment with thinly veiled disgust at the blatant favoritism he showed to his students who all deserved equal consideration. If only he knew that the small raggedy boy next to her would become one of the most powerful wizards in history. With a small huff of displeasure, she turned her attention to the parchment now in her hand.
Immediately she felt herself relax as she noted that their first-class was Herbology with the Hufflepuff first-years from 9:00 to 10:20. Her mood sunk a bit as she realized that the second class, Defence Against the Dark Arts from 10:30 to 12:00, was with the first-year Gryffindor’s. At least it was only one class today that she would need to keep an eye out for James and Sirius and she would be there to intervene if things got out of hand from either side.
She didn’t forget that Snape had lunged at the two boys, probably to try and break one of their noses in turn. It was clear that Severus would give as good as he got if he had the chance. Astraea made a note to herself to skim over their Defence and Charms texts again to try and prepare for the firestorm that was brewing.
Her hand brushed the handle of her wand hidden beneath her skirt and relaxed a bit. Worst-case scenario, she could use the two Gryffindor boys as target practice for the Knockback Jinx she had been trying to teach herself.
She glanced over to Snape for a moment before taking in the rest of their schedule. Debating what to do, she sighed as she decided that discussing what to do about the double Potions class on Friday with the Gryffindor first-years would be best at another time. For now, she would plan.
She had tried to play by the Gryiffindor’s rules, bold and brash actions, yet all that got her was Severus’s nose broken. Now she would embrace the tactics of her house. Astraea was almost certain once Narcissa learned who exactly they were trying to be friends with, a muggle-born and a half-blood of a family with no weight to their name, she would probably rescind her advice but in the meantime, the young witch would follow it. As long as neither she nor Snape did anything too obviously friendly with Remus or Lily, hopefully, Sirius and James would back off. At least for a little while.
Pulling her wand out to cast another quick tempus spell. They had forty-five minutes before Herbology started. Astraea thought of the supplies that she needed to pick up from her room before class, textbooks for both classes, parchment, ink, and quills for notes, possibly her dragon-hide gloves. She then thought about trying to find her way back to the common room on her own and realistically, how badly she would get lost in her attempt.
She looked over to see Severus finishing his plate, wiping it clean of the egg yolk and other breakfast foods with a bit of toast before popping it in his mouth. Astraea made no comment about what was obviously a habit from his rough home life that probably included limited access to nutritious food. She made a mental note to ask Narcissa if Madame Pomfrey would prescribe a simple nutrient potion to make up for it.
“If you’re done, should we head back to the dorms to get everything we need for Herbology and Defence? I doubt we’ll have time to run back during the break for everything. Also, I probably need still need help getting there and back, to be honest.” She muttered with a small grimace on her face. A thought struck her as Severus rolled his eyes at the girl but began to stand up.
“So I’m going to assume that the Greenhouses are outside but we have no idea where do we?” Astraea noted wearily as she followed the boy out of the Great Hall.
She cursed Dumbledore along with the rest of the staff for not even giving a brief overview of where any of the classrooms were located and expecting first-years to just figure it out on their first day. At her comment, Snape paused mid-step and looked at her as the realization also hit him. He groaned in annoyance while Astraea ruffled her bangs in frustration.
“Well let’s hope that we run into Malfoy or Black along the way. If not, maybe there will be someone in the common room who will give us directions,” Snape offered as he continued to lead the way back down to the dungeons.
As they descended into the stone underbelly of Hogwarts, Astraea couldn’t shake her irritation at the fact that eleven-year-old children were supposed to navigate a literal castle by trial and error. Dumbledore was truly proving to be absolutely inept at being even a slightly responsible adult. How could anyone trust him to run a school full of untrained magical children, let alone preside over the high court of law for the entirety of the magical community of the British Isles?
A tug on her robe sleeve pulled her out of her musings to find that she had nearly strolled past the common room entrance. Severus, seeing that she was no longer lost in thought, removed his hand and opened the door to the common room. The pair entered into the mostly empty space, the only other inhabitants occupying one of the brown leather couches by the fireplace.
There, sharing an intimate moment, was Narcissa and Lucius. Both of the older Slytherin students were faced away from the entrance as Narcissa’s deft fingers gently braided and styled Lucius’s long silver blond locks before tying them off with a silvery grey ribbon. Astraea loathed to interrupt the tender moment the two were sharing, as did Severus it seemed, but needs must.
She waited a moment before moving forward, still staying at a respectable distance from the pair before speaking up.
“Excuse us,” the two blonds turned to look at them, unsurprised by their presence.
Narcissa allowed a faint smile as she began to realize that this pair of snakelets had decided to trust herself and her betrothed and as such, would seek them out for any of their needs. Considering the scene this morning, she didn’t quite know yet if that would end up being a good thing or not, however, she was grateful that they felt they could rely on their elder students for help, something she did not have the luxury of at their age.
“Yes? Is there something you need?” Lucius spoke up, the tone a bit forcibly polite as he was annoyed that his time with his soon-to-be-wife was cut short. Severus, noticing the strained patience that colored the older boy’s tone, stepped up beside the young witch.
“We realized that we have no idea how to get to our classes this morning. We were hoping you could point us in the right direction if it’s not too much of a bother for you of course.” Snape requested not looking directly at the older students but down at his shoes. Narcissa looked at her love and sighed fondly.
“I have a letter that I must send before Arithmancy. Lucius, would you escort them to their first class? I would hate for two of our young snakes to get accosted after that scene with those lion cubs.” She appealed to the Malfoy heir while gathering her books and a letter sealed with the House of Black emblem.
“Very well, gather your things quickly and I shall show you the way.” Lucius sighed charming his own school supplies into a dark leather satchel. His annoyance was tempered by the soft smile Narcissa directed his way as the two first-years ran off to gather their materials.
The sixth-year prefect pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled as his betrothed left the common room. This was going to be a long year.