~ Astra ~

"Bye!" I shouted, grabbing the vial of Floo powder from above the mantle. "I'll be home for lunch!"

"Stay safe!" came Aunt Andromeda's reply, over the sounds of loud splashing. Charis was currently in the bath upstairs, having not understood the concept of "breakfast going into your mouth" very well. She didn't normally get that messy, honestly, with jam all over her face and crumbs in her hair, and it was sort of my fault. To be fair, Victoire had left me to watch her when she left for her job interview before Aunt Andromeda had come downstairs, and I had more experience with mandrakes than with babies. Regardless, when Aunt Andromeda had appeared on the scene, she'd rescued the helpless baby and whisked her off upstairs.

I took a pinch of Floo powder and tossed it into the fire. "The Leaky Cauldron." Green flames shot up, and I got sucked into the Floo system. After very minimal bruising, I tumbled out into the pub. At ten in the morning in early July, it was still fairly empty, and I headed for a table at the far back corner.

I'd left home fifteen minutes early, on purpose. I wanted some peace and quiet to write my dad back, and those things were hard to come by currently. I had never known babies could be so loud. Of course, Teddy and Victoire were half the problem, always babbling back to her. It was perfectly adorable, and I loved it all, but I had to admit it wasn't always the best environment to write a letter in. I could have waited till Charis went down for her nap, of course (it tended to be nap time for everyone who was home at the time, so extra quiet), but I liked the atmosphere at the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, I hated making Colette have to wait.

Not that she minded. I think she was happy for any excuse to get out of her house on weekends, the days her dad wasn't at work. She would never admit that, of course. Our official reason for meeting up every Saturday morning for the three weeks since school had gotten out, between the two of us, was for her to catch me up about whatever the Daily Prophet was publishing that week. Aunt Andromeda knew the truth about our meetings, obviously (it was probably the only reason she let me venture out alone). Mr. St. Pierre most definitely did not.

I pulled a piece of parchment out of my bag, and a nice pen Luke had given me a while back after we'd spent a History of Magic hour complaining about all the useless things wizards still used that muggles could do better. Quills were cool and all, but pens were a lot more practical, especially for traveling. Besides, you couldn't click a quill. 

Dear Father,

Yes, I promise I will never needlessly run into a battle ever again. I couldn't really help myself, though. What was I supposed to do? Just sit there? Okay, sorry, I'll stop. Yes, I know I could've killed myself and I'm sorry and I love you and I swear it won't happen again.

Summer has been fairly uneventful so far. That's bad and good, apparently. The good is that it seems like Parliament hasn't been able to do anything huge yet. Teddy graduated his auror training, which is good, and he says they seem like they're actually working to track down Stillens right now. He also Mr. Potter is worried it won't be like this for long. I suppose you could ask him about it when he delivers this letter? I don't really know much.

Uneventfulness is bad for Wren, though. She hasn't heard anything from her family, last I heard, and it's been almost a month. I mentioned that girl that bombed St. Mungo's in my last letter, Zaria Hempsey, the one who knows Wren is a double agent. She can't have just not done anything about it, surely. If she was going to blackmail Wren, she would've tried that already. If she was going to tell Stillens, he'd have done something about it by now, right? We're all getting really worried, because no news can't be good here, can it?

I'm at the Leaky Cauldron right now. Did you come here a lot when you were younger? I'm meeting Colette St. Pierre here soon. She's... Well, her dad is not a very good person, and he really doesn't like me or the Potters. She hates him, and it really just doesn't seem like a good situation. He threatened to kick her out a while ago. I'm just really worried for her, because if anything happened, I don't think she'd tell me. She doesn't really like being vulnerable. I'm not really sure what to do about it.

Well, I love you and miss you. Mr. Potter says I might be able to come visit next month! Hope it happens!

Love, Astra

I smiled and folded the parchment back up. Another good think about pens: not ink splotches that ruined letters. Honestly, I didn't see why the Wizarding world didn't switch over immediately.

A thump on the table made me jump, but it was only Colette setting her bag down. I glanced up and smiled, then quickly did a double take. "Um, Colette, something happened to your hair."

"I know." She ran her fingers through her hair, which was no longer long and jet black but chopped off above her shoulders and full of blue streaks. "I did it Thursday. Hoped it would piss off my dad."

"Did it?" I asked.

She smiled. "Beautifully. He told me I looked like a whore."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Wow." She seemed completely unfazed by whatever he thought of her hair, so I shrugged it off. "Well, I think it looks great."

"Thanks," she said, smiling again as she sat down. "What's that?" She indicated my letter, which I was still holding.

"Oh, it's to my father," I explained. "Teddy said he'd take it up to work with him tomorrow to give to Mr. Potter if I wanted."

"Haven't you seen the Potters yourself?" Colette asked.

I shook my head. "With Teddy being an auror now and Victoire looking for a job and Charis, we haven't had a lot of time."

"Victoire's looking for a job?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "She and Teddy want to get their own flat eventually, but the salaries at the Ministry just got cut."

Colette nodded. "My dad used that as an excuse to sell our owl."

So that was why she hadn't written. Albus had been worried about it, though I'd assured him she was fine. "Oh, that stinks."

Colette shook her head. "Forget it. What's Toire trying to do?"

"Oh, well," I said, trying to find where I'd left my thoughts. "Anyway, they want to save up as much money as they can while they've got free babysitting, so Toire applied at Flourish and Blotts. She's got an interview today, actually."

"Oh, that's cool," Colette said, smiling. "If they get any new books on creating spells in, she should let me know."

"You want to tell Toire you create spells?"

"On second thought," Colette said, nodding, "looking around Flourish and Blotts myself every day gives me an excuse to get away from our flat."

I laughed, and Colette did too, and I felt for a moment as if everything were as it should be. Maybe, if we tried hard enough, we could just go back to the beginning of third year when our biggest fears were whether or not Lacy and Iris would be nice to Colette just because I told them she was cool now.

Colette was lost in her thoughts too, though a look at her face told me they were markedly less nostalgic and happy than mine were. Before I could ask what was up, she told me herself. "Have you heard from Wren yet?"

"Um... Not directly." I didn't really know why, but Albus had been the only one writing me this summer. Of course, Wren had a lot on her mind. I couldn't blame her. And yet, I felt a sting every time Albus's owl brought just one letter. A sting of envy towards him, because he got to see her every day. A sting of bitterness towards her, because she didn't seem to care that I might be interested in her well-being. And then I felt bad for being bitter.

Colette frowned. "Not directly?"

"Oh, I mean I've just heard everything through Albus."

"And what has he said, then?"

"No news, still. Nothing."

Colette sighed. "This can't be good. Maybe we should try to smuggle her out of the country or something. I'm sure the Dubois twins would be happy to help."

I cracked a smile. "Yeah, right, I'm sure they're the absolute best at keeping it secret too, right?"

"It's not a joking matter," Colette said, smiling in spite of herself. "I'm serious. Mr. Potter's got to do something."

"I don't know what that is," I said, sighing. "Running would be an admission of guilt, wouldn't it? And we don't really know what's going on." I paused for a minute. "Why do you think Wren isn't writing to me?"

Colette gave me an odd look. "I'm sure she knows Albus is."

"Yes, but that's not the same thing at all."

"I don't know," Colette said, shrugging. "Perhaps she doesn't know how to put anything into words right now. I'm sure it's not a personal insult to you or anything."

"I... I know that..."

"Do you?" Colette tilted her head, frowning thoughtfully at me. "Okay, then, why would she be ignoring you, exactly? Is there any reason?"

"Maybe she's mad about something?"

"About what?"

"I don't know..."

"Probably because there isn't anything," Colette pointed out reasonably. "Anyway, Wren isn't the type to give the silent treatment with no explanation. Is there any other reason she'd be purposely ignoring you?" I slowly shook my head; I couldn't think of anything. Colette nodded, satisfied. "Exactly. Like I said, she's probably just feeling really overwhelmed right now."

"I guess you're right," I said. I'd known this all along, though. It didn't change any of my doubts.

We talked about all kinds of things. Colette wasn't allowed to subscribe to the Quibbler (she'd tried to, and her dad had burned the first issue that came. He'd been screening all mail since then), so we swapped news, the real for the fake. Other than a couple of muggle killings, Stillens's terrorists were lying low for now, while Parliament continued to grow stronger. Parliament was still in the process of "purging its ranks," or rounding up dozens of people every week who supposedly had connections to the DA or Stillens. In reality, according the Quibbler, very few of these people really did; most of them were just uncomfortable with some of the new standards slipping by out of public notice. These standards included creating a law that was to go into affect 15 July, two days from now, and gave the Prime Minister the power to act without the consent of Parliament in cases of "great endangerment to the general public, the government, or in other cases of much urgency," which was very vague and Toire said basically gave Pollux Russey the power to do whatever he pleased, as long as he could come up with a good excuse after the fact. Another rather scary development was the repeal of the law that all criminals should be given a fair trial, which made me angry enough to go yell at the Prime Minister myself.

Eventually, I suggested we go try and catch Toire after her interview was over, which would be any time now. Colette was fine with that because it meant going to Flourish and Blotts, her favorite place outside the Hogwarts library.

"It's a really pretty day," she said as we stepped outside.

I frowned. "It's raining." The sky was gray, the rain was drizzling, and the very few people out and about today were holding everything from newspapers to briefcases over their heads to keep dry.

"Rain is pretty," Colette countered. "It makes everything feel fresh. Anyway, there are less people around when it's raining, which is never a bad thing."

"Lovely," I said, rolling my eyes and holding my arms above my head, trying to protect my hair from the rain. Colette didn't; I wondered if she'd used magic or muggle hair dye to dye her hair.

We hurried along, because I didn't fancy dripping water all over the books and being kicked out. Might reflect badly on Toire. We had just turned the last corner when someone called Colette's name from behind us. I didn't recognize the voice, but Colette cursed quietly, and I realized who it must be.

We turned to see Martin St. Pierre crossing over to us. He'd just walked out of a robe outfitter's, it seemed. Just our luck. Colette stared at him with stony defiance as he walked up to us, glaring. "Colette, what are you doing?"

"I told you where I was going."

"But not who you'd be with!" He gave me a disdainful look, then grabbed Colette's arm and pulled her into a narrow alley. I followed, trying not to be worried; Colette was rolling her eyes and telling him to lay off just then, and only seemed mildly inconvenienced.

"Are you trying to lose me my job?" Mr. St. Pierre asked angrily. "Associating with riff raff like Astra Lestrange?"

"Perhaps your stupid job isn't worth having?" Colette shot back. "I've told you you're working for a puppet government."

"That's it! You're not leaving the flat anymore this summer! And if you keep this up, I'll hire you a tutor!"

"How'll you pay for that, give up drinking?" Colette rolled her eyes. "We both know you can hardly pay rent."

Mr. St. Pierre shot a glare at me; I had a feeling he didn't want Colette airing their personal business in front of me. "That is a discussion for another time."

"How exactly do you plan to keep me in the flat? Barricade the doors? I have a wand."

"The trace—

"Is on the flat, not on me, and the Ministry just assumes you're the one doing magic. Any child knows that."

"Do not speak to me like this!" Mr. St. Pierre said angrily. "You are becoming just like your mother!"

"I suppose that's what you get for marrying a prostitute!"

"If your mother is a prostitute now it's only because she grew depressed about constantly seeing you!"

I blinked; Colette and her dad really went at it when they argued. I was tempted to try to cut in, but had a feeling Colette wouldn't appreciate it.

"This isn't about her," Mr. St. Pierre said, making an obvious effort to control himself. "This is about your shameless behavior, first your hair and now cavorting around with people like Astra Lestrange."

"What the hell is wrong with Astra?" Colette asked, then seemed to catch herself, throwing a glance at me. "Actually, don't tell me. It's all false, anyway."

Mr. St. Pierre glared at me again. "No, I will tell you. Astra Lestrange and all of her crowd are disrespectful, reckless, dangerous teenagers, and some of them openly verge on criminals."

"Don't," Colette said warningly.

Mr. St. Pierre raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even talking about Predatel. Astra Lestrange has been throwing herself at danger since first year as if she enjoys the attention, because she does. She's a bad influence, and many of her actions verge on illegal. I can just hope that this new government takes care of problems like her!"

For a moment, Colette didn't answer. I didn't, either, because I was a little unsure what to say. While what he said didn't really hurt, much (I already had no respect for the man), I did feel the insult.

"Go, Astra," Colette said calmly, still glaring at her father.

"What? No."

"Please go," Colette repeated, turning to glance at me. "It's fine."

I looked in her eyes, and saw a bit of desperation. She didn't want me to see her like this, getting pushed to the edge of her emotional boundaries by a father who couldn't care less. As much as I wanted to stay, I slowly backed up, out of the alley, and walked away. As soon as I was out of sight, I took off for Flourish and Blotts.

Toire was inside, browsing before going home, and she was very happy to see me. I stalled for a while, hoping Colette would come in soon. After a while, it became clear that she wasn't going to. When Victoire and I walked back toward the Leaky Cauldron, the narrow alley was empty.

~~~~

I spent the next day trying to get Charis to say my name. So far, her babbling had been completely meaningless, but Teddy, Toire, and I were all trying to get her to say our name first. I was at a slight disadvantage, since "Mama" and "Dada" were much easier for babies to say, but that didn't mean I didn't try. I'd been working with her since I'd gotten home, actually, and as I was home more than Toire and Teddy were, I had a small advantage that almost made up for how hard my name was for babies to pronounce.

"Come on, Charis, say Astra, you can do it," I said, sitting on the floor beside her as she tried to make a tower out of building blocks.

"Babasploo," she said, which didn't mean anything.

"A-stra," I said slowly.

"A."

"A-stra."

"Abibadee"

"A. Stra."

"Ata."

I blinked. "What?"

Charis knocked her tower down, then reached for my face behind it. "Ata."

I slowly grinned. "Astra?"

"Ata!"

My eyes grew wide, and I quickly jumped up. "Teddy! Toire! I won!"

"What?" Suddenly they were both pounding down the stairs, all excitement. "She... She actually...?" Teddy trailed off, running his hand through his hair in bewilderment.

I smiled triumphantly. "Charis, can you say Astra?"

Charis clapped her hands. "Ata!" Then she giggled, as Teddy and Toire's mouths dropped open.

"Oh Merlin, Charis is talking," Toire finally said. She ran forward and scooped the baby up. "Merlin's beard, Teddy!"

In half a second, we were all caught in a squealing, jumping group hug. It was enough to bring Aunt Andromeda in. "What's going on?"

"Charis said Astra!" Teddy exclaimed.

"Well, she said Ata," Toire clarified, "but we're pretty sure she was talking about Astra."

"She said it a few times," I said, grinning.

Aunt Andromeda smiled. "That's very sweet. But don't jump with her, gracious. You'll drop her."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Nah, we've got her." To prove his point, he took Charis and tossed her in the air. She squealed in delight as he caught her.

Aun Andromeda looked like she was going to faint from fright. "I never liked it when Ted did that, or when Harry did that, so don't you start, Edward."

Teddy chuckled. "Whatever you say, Gran."

I'd been planning on writing Albus that day anyway (Wren's birthday was the next day, 15 June, and even if she wasn't going to write to me, I could wish her happy birthday), but now my letter was basically three feet of gushing about how adorable Charis was.

When I went to bed that night, I did not expect to be woken by anything other than a crying Charis. I'd gotten better at sleeping through her, but it was still difficult, especially when she didn't calm down right away and Teddy or Toire had the bright idea of walking around to try to get her to go asleep, which meant leaving her room and thereby coming closer to my door.

Maybe that's why, when I first woke up, I just groaned and rolled over and put my pillow over my head. After a few moments, though, I didn't hear any crying, and that was a bit confusing. I pulled my pillow away and sat up. Some noise had woken me up, but I didn't know what it was.

There it was again. A pounding, that sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Who would be here at this hour? Especially someone we didn't know was coming?

The pounding came again, and this time I got up. I walked over to my door and poked my head out. Teddy and Toire were across the hall, also looking towards the stairs. When Aunt Andromeda's door opened, I asked, "Who is it?"

"I don't know," Teddy said, quietly stepping out into the hall. He raised his wand and lit the tip, which gleamed very faintly in the dark. As he started to descend the steps, I hurried out after him. Aunt Andromeda didn't tell me to go back to sleep, surprisingly enough; she was right behind us, actually.

The pounding was on the front door. We paused in front of it, all staring at the large wooden door as the knocking grew more insistent. I tried to think of who it could possibly be, but was drawing up blank. Teddy reached for the doorknob, motioning for us to stay behind him, then flung open the door.

"Colette?"

Colette was standing on my front stoop, her cloak blowing in the wind, clutching a weathered suitcase. She glanced around at all of us, then seemed to find Aunt Andromeda. "I'm sorry it's so late, Mrs. Tonks, but I didn't really know where else to go..."

I stepped forward, reaching for her arm. "Did you dad...?"

Colette did not meet my eyes. She nodded.

~~~~

I've got a bit of a surprise for you guys, starting next chapter. Some of you may have a small idea of what it is already, so feel free to speculate in the comments! I really hope you all like it. I'll admit, it's a risk, and it might crash and burn, but I'm excited and think it'll really help the story.

Question of the Day: If you worked at the Ministry of Magic, what department would you work in? ("Member of parliament" doesn't count because technically most of them don't actually work in a department.)

Answer: I would probably work in International Magical Cooperation because I really enjoy different cultures AND being bossy and helping people get along so like what better than combining those two things?

Vote and comment!

~Ellie