~Astra~

"Ciara Malfoy found out about me last night," Wren said. She didn't even look up from her breakfast, and had said it so casually that it took me a second to register what she meant.

Ciara had found out about her? That was impossible, wasn't it? Wren must have told her, then. Absolutely insane. No, Professor Haverna must have told her, which was even more unbelievable. I had so many questions, but found I was too shocked to put any of them into words. I was left just staring at her with my mouth open.

Albus dropped his fork, blinking at Wren in surprise. James leaned back, turning to her with raised eyebrows. Even Colette seemed confused and intrigued. After a moment, James finally managed to say, "Excuse me, what?"

Wren shrugged, still not looking up. She seemed very self-conscious. "She's been watching Nico Jasper so closely, and followed him to the entrance hall last night, where she saw me leave with him. Then she went to Mr. Potter."

"Oh." James pursed his lips. "So you had to tell her, then?"

"I mean, no, not really. We could've lied, covered it up somehow. But I didn't want to do that. I'm kind of glad this happened, to be honest."

"Glad?" James was staring at her like this was completely unbelievable. "This is Ciara Malfoy, Wren!"

"Can we really trust her?" Colette asked.

I glared at her. "Ciara's my cousin! Of course we can."

Albus, Colette, and James all seemed very unconvinced, and turned back to Wren for an answer. She smiled a little and shrugged. "I think so."

"But—"

"It was Mr. Potter's idea, not mine," she said, cutting Colette off before she could make an argument. Colette blinked at her, seeming surprised. "But," Wren continued, "I agreed with it. Ciara Malfoy isn't that bad."

"I've been saying that for years," I muttered, rolling my eyes. Why did Wren get to proclaim that like it was some great revelation from heaven? Ciara and I had been getting along since fourth year, and everyone had thought I was crazy all this time because she was clearly one of the worst people ever.

Wren was watching me. She had that look on her face, like she could tell what I was thinking. It was annoying. "I know. I'm sorry I never listened you before."

"To be fair," Albus added, "She's been a prat to the rest of us until recently."

"She's still a prat to me," James muttered, rolling his eyes.

"That's because you all never gave her a chance!" I exclaimed.

"Why would we?" Albus demanded.

"Because she's my cousin!"

"She could be Jesus Christ and I still wouldn't give her a chance if she was being a prat," Colette said sourly.

I reached for my wand. If they were going to start acting like this, I was more than happy to hex them in order to defend my cousin's honor. "That's ridiculous, Colette. You're being a prat right now."

"First off, rude. Second off, you don't even know—"

"Ciara's actually the worst," James cut in. "If I was being forced to choose between spending time with her or Eris Prince, that'd be a toss up, honestly."

"You know what?" I started, but Wren cut me off.

"Stop it, all of you," she snapped. "It doesn't matter what Ciara used to be like, all right? Astra was right. We weren't. Let's leave it at that."

I, for one, didn't want to leave it, but Wren seemed very annoyed, and she was a little scary when she was angry. I crossed my arms and sat back on the bench, avoiding eye contact, just so everyone else knew I didn't want to leave it.

There was silence for a moment, then James stood up, threw his napkin down on his plate, and marched away. I glanced at Wren, who was frowning at the table with her lips pursed.

Despite the fact that Wren had just validated me, I couldn't help feeling annoyed. I didn't know why, which was even more annoying. As Colette got up and marched away, as well, I found myself glaring at Wren and Albus. All this time, I'd been saying that Ciara was actually pretty nice when you gave her a chance. All this time, everyone had been writing me off and telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. But here we were. I knew James would come around eventually, and probably Colette too, because no one could stay angry at Wren for long. Everyone always agreed with her eventually. Forget that I'd been saying the same thing for years. Forget that I'd been asking them to give Ciara a chance. No, they wouldn't listen to me. Just Wren.

Wad I being unfair? Probably. Should I have been happy that not only was Wren pointing them back to the fact that I'd been right, but that she'd finally taken my advice and found out Ciara wasn't so bad, after all? Yeah. I should have. I knew it. But being angry felt better. If I didn't feel angry, I wasn't sure if I would feel anything.

It was hard to keep being angry, though, when Albus nudged me. "Hey, you were right. And I'm sorry, too. We should've listened to you."

I shrugged, uncomfortable. "Whatever."

Wren glanced up at me. "Really, Astra. I'm sorry it took so long."

"It's fine," I snapped. Wren stiffened a little, and a knot appeared in my stomach. I took a deep breath. "So. Um... when did you and Ciara actually become like... I don't know, whatever you are?"

"I think we're friends," Wren said, smiling a little. "And sometime last term. I'm not sure exactly when. It was gradual."

I nodded. "Oh. Cool."

"You know, I knew she would find out eventually, as soon as you asked me to translate Nico's snakes for her," Albus said.

"Really?" Wren laughed. "I wouldn't let myself think that. I didn't exactly know what that would mean. It was a little bit of a scary thought."

"Scary how?" I asked, frowning. Daring her to say something like Well, you know, Ciara couldn't be trusted...

Wren didn't say that. She shrugged. "I don't know. It's always scary. I mean, what if she'd gone to Kimmel instead of Mr. Potter? That's what most reasonable people would've done. That would've been disastrous. Or even going to Lockley would've been a mess."

"But why would she have gone to either of them when Mr. Potter's in the DA?"

Albus answered this time. "Most people don't have as close a connection to the DA as we do. It's probably a little bit of an intimidating thing."

Wren smiled. "It doesn't matter now, of course. Apparently, Ciara's been going to see Mr. Potter every couple of days for a few weeks, trying to convince him to do something about Nico."

"Honestly, reminds me of something you would do, Astra."

"Well, we are cousins," I conceded, smiling. I guess I don't know how I would have expected Ciara to react to all that. I was glad she'd proven me right and had some sense, though, because imagine the mess if she hadn't? No one would've let me forget it, or ever given her a chance again.

Wren glanced at her watch. "Almost time to go to class," she remarked.

"Think Colette'll skip Potions?" I asked.

Wren shook her head, sighing. "Wouldn't put it past her."

Albus stood up, pulling his bag over his shoulder. "By the way, I thought I heard Dad say something about boggarts for today."

Wren froze for a second. "Are you sure?"

Albus pursed his lips. "I'm sure James won't be acting like this all morning."

She shot a worried glance at the doors. "Really?"

I rolled my eyes. "I suppose you're going to go apologize to him," I said sourly. Was I trying to make her fight with me? I wasn't sure at this point.

Wren just shook her head, growing serious. "No. He's the one who's wrong."

"Oh." I smiled a little. "I thought... I don't know. You'd go apologize and somehow twist it to where this was a bad idea, just to make him feel better. So he'd stop being angry."

"James is a big kid," Wren said, shrugging. "He can get over himself." She paused for a moment, then added, "I mean, I'm not going to be antagonistic or anything. If he's still mad at lunch, I'll go talk to him, I think. Try to help him understand."

Albus patted her shoulder encouragingly, smiling. "I'm sure he'll come around. He always does. And honestly, if he would let go of that whole thing about her being Fred's secret girlfriend, I'm sure they'd be able to get along at least a little bit."

I made a gagging noise. "As if Ciara and Fred would ever happen. James is completely mad."

Wren laughed, and as Albus picked up on the 'James is mad' thread and kept joking around, I found myself hit by the realization that I hadn't made Wren laugh in a long time. It felt really good. And as loud as the angry part of my head was, the part that kept telling me to be a prat to her because at least it was better than being numb, I liked this better. Maybe... maybe if I could do that, things would be able to get better, a little.

"Astra, are you all right?" Wren was watching me, head tilted in concern. The anger flared up. Mind your own business! But I bit it back, and nodded, glancing down and hoping she hadn't seen it in my face. The idea of making anyone laugh suddenly seemed as hard as resisting the Imperius Curse, as far away as the stars.

~~~~

Dear Father,

Okay. Cool. Cool. That's... cool.

I groaned and crumpled up another piece of parchment. So, writing out exactly what I was thinking wouldn't work. I tossed the letter onto the pile of failures behind me on my bed. I really needed to write a letter. It had been too long. I just needed to send him something, let him know I... Well, let him know what I was thinking. The problem was, I still wasn't sure what that was. I mean, I wasn't okay with it, of course. But, like, it had happened. And I couldn't do anything about it. So did I need to be okay with it? Was he okay with it?

I sighed and pulled out another sheet of parchment.

Dear Father,

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write. I've been trying to, really. I just haven't known what to say. There's a lot to process, and I'm not sure what I'm thinking, or feeling. I don't know what I'm supposed to be thinking or feeling.

I mean, on the one hand, it's an awful thing that happened. But I know sometimes people can be made to do horrible things. And that doesn't make them. bad person, necessarily. Like Wren Predatel. And that's not exactly the same, because she was a child and you weren't, but I think it's similar.

I don't know. I'm confused. But I still love you. And I understand why you didn't tell me, so don't worry about that.

Love, Astra

I stared down at the letter in my hand. Actually, this wasn't too bad. Not perfect, but closer than the other tries I'd made. I pursed my lips, then reached over for an envelope. It would have to do. It was the best I could do. And it had been a few weeks, now. This was long overdue.

I stuck the letter in my book bag. We had Defense Against the Dark Arts today, after lunch. I had wasted our free period writing (or attempting to write) a letter instead of doing the homework, but if I hurried Albus might still be in the common room and let me copy off him. I swept all the reject letters under my bed, to be dealt with later, and hurried downstairs.

"Oh, hey." Albus waved me over to where he and Colette were sitting. Colette being there was a little odd, because she and Wren had History of Magic right now, but I suppose her skipping class wasn't that weird. I still raised an eyebrow at her as I sat down.

"Shut up," she said when she noticed my look. "I didn't feel like going to class."

"Didn't feel like going to class or didn't feel like seeing Wren and Ciara?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they're both sitting with Poppy and talking about prefect stuff, anyway. I'm not missing anything." I narrowed my eyes, and she sighed. "I guess Ciara isn't the worst. Are you happy now?"

I smiled. That was the best I would get, at least for a few weeks. "I suppose that'll do. I glanced at Albus. "Did you do the homework for you Dad's?"

He rolled his eyes and passed it to me. "What've you been doing all this time, then?"

"Still trying to write a letter to my dad." I pulled out a parchment and started scribbling down the answers, partly to avoid having to look up. Albus and Colette definitely exchanged a look, though, I was sure.

After a moment, Albus asked, "So, um, how'd that go?"

"I think I finally have something." Dementors are most known for the dementor's kiss, which will steal a victim's soul. The moment of silence indicated another look. There is no known cure for the dementor's kiss.

"Oh, that's good," Colette said, finally. "What did you say?"

I shrugged. Dementors in the wild have been almost completely eradicated from civilized areas, and these days only haunt dark, depressing locations far from wizard kind. "I told him I don't know what I was thinking, exactly. That I'm confused. But I still love him. That's all true."

"That sounds good," Albus said. No pause, so no look. I finally glanced up, and Albus was watching me. "Make sure you're not copying word for word, okay?"

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Have I ever gotten you in trouble, Mr. Prefect? I know not to copy word for word."

Albus glanced at Colette as I kept writing. "I suppose you heard we're probably doing boggarts today?"

Colette frowned. "We are? I thought that was O.W.L. level stuff."

"It normally is. Dad said there's something special he likes to just show upper-level classes, though, just for fun."

"There's nothing fun about boggarts," I said, rolling my eyes. "Mine's going to be a bloody dementor again, or Stillens, or Pouri's dead body. Something incredibly traumatic, I'm sure."

Albus shrugged. "I'm just the messenger. I agree with you. You think I enjoy watching my friends die in front of me?"

Colette shrugged. "Boggarts aren't that bad, honestly. Just get some more abstract fears."

"Are you ever actually afraid when the boggart tries to become 'heights'?" Albus asked.

"Not really. I know it's not real. And I know that's not all it is, but... you know, if there really was a gaping hole in the floor of our classroom, it wouldn't be to a bottomless pit. It'd be to the classroom below. Not that scary."

I chuckled. "I wish the boggarts would focus on my abstract fears. Maybe this time it'll try and become the act of apparating, and it'll die on the spot when it isn't able to?"

Albus laughed. "Don't get your hopes up."

I managed to get all the answers copied with only a little complaining from Colette that we were going to be late for lunch. In fact, we walked into the Great Hall before Wren had gotten there, so I didn't consider us very late at all. James was sitting with the other seventh years halfway down to Gryffindor table, so Colette, Albus, and I took a seat near the end.

Colette pulled out her copy of the Quibbler that she hadn't been able to finish that morning. "Oh, I meant to tell you guys, but there's an article about Russey in here today."

"What's it say?" Albus asked, not seeming very interested. I didn't blame him; it seemed like there was always some sort of article about Russey. I didn't know how he still had his job, with all the shady things he was getting up to. Throwing people in detention centers without cause, accusing the DA of secretly working with the MACUSA, basically running the country into the ground. But those were things we only knew because we read the Quibbler, Colette kept reminding me. Most people had no idea, and thought he was doing a fantastic job, since that's what the Prophet kept saying.

"Russey made a public statement about the DA," Colette said. "He called it malevolent, said their goal is to take down the government and create a state of total anarchy. He's calling for the general public's help in outing the 'criminals,' apparently. There's a hotline and everything."

"What's a hotline?" Albus asked.

"A phone number people can call and report anyone they think is suspicious," I said automatically. I was more focused on Colette. "What happens if someone is accused of being with the DA?"

"Looks like they go to a detention center 'to await further processing,'" Colette read. She pursed her lips. "Does that mean to await evidence? That's unbelievable."

"Is it?" Albus asked.

"Well, I guess not." She shook her head. "I don't think it'll be long until it's a full on war."

I glanced around. "You think anyone would accuse us?"

"Probably not, since Mr. Potter's still fine," Colette said, shrugging. "I think he'd vouch for us. It'd just be a case of how far they'll let him go, I suppose."

"Maybe you shouldn't read the Quibbler out in the open, though," Albus said, glancing around. "Just in case."

Colette rolled her eyes. "I'm not scared, Albus."

"I didn't say you were. Just... I think precautions are a good idea?"

Colette rolled her eyes and muttered something in French that sounded insulting, but still pulled a textbook out of her bag and stuck the Quibbler inside it.

Over Albus's shoulder, I could see the doors to the Great Hall open. Wren, Ciara, and Poppy walked in, all laughing and hanging on to each other like they'd just heard the funniest thing in the world. They really were friends, then. That was good. I'd always been under the impression that Ciara wasn't doing super well in that department. I was glad to see her hanging out with someone who wasn't one of her Quidditch players or related to her.

So why did I feel so weird, watching Wren and Poppy walk over to us as Ciara headed to the Slytherin table? It wasn't about Ciara, surely. Poppy said something to Wren that made her face light up, and she nodded vigorously. It hit me then that I hadn't really seen her that happy or excited for a while.

Since when did Wren have other friends, anyway? Not that I had a problem with that. Wren could be friends with whoever she wanted. It wasn't my business. But I thought I was her best friend. Well, it was probably Albus, then Colette, then me. But still! I was up there. Why did she seem so much more relaxed and happy around Poppy and Ciara than she did around me? When did that start?

They both sat down across the table from me. Poppy patted Albus's arm, then grinned at me. "Astra, I can't believe I never knew how funny your cousin is!"

I smiled drily. "Yeah. Shocking, hmm?"

Albus frowned. "No need to be rude. It's not like you've been talking to Poppy about her for years. How was she to know?"

"Oh, it's fine," Poppy said lightly, smiling at me. "I'm sure it's annoying to know how great someone is and then to have no one else see it."

"Yeah, it is," I agreed, smiling a little. I caught Wren and Albus's giving each other a look out of the corner of my eye (a surprised, pleased one, though that didn't make it better). I decided to let it go, because Poppy was pretty nice and didn't deserved to be dragged into all of that.

Poppy had turned to Wren now. "Tell me again why you're suddenly all friends with her, though?"

Wren shrugged. "It's not really sudden. Al and I have been warming up to her all year, just like you. This morning I just told James and Colette that she was my friend, and they should be nice, and they're both not having it because they're prats." Wren threw a very pointed glare at Colette just then, who was already frowning at her with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, shut up. Just let me be annoyed with you for a little bit, at least. I'll get over it."

"You could get over it now," I muttered.

"Don't start arguing about this again, please," Albus snapped, his tone completely contradicting the please. "I don't want to hear it."

Colette sighed and turned back to the Quibbler. I kept eating. For a moment, Wren looked down at her empty plate, then stood up. "I think I should go talk to James. He's actually angry."

"Just wait until after the match Saturday," Albus suggested through a mouth full of chicken. "She won't be his rival anymore after that."

"You want me to wait until after we lose?" Wren asked, eyebrow raised. "That'll make James warm up to her?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up. As if you know anything about Quidditch."

"You're just saying that because Ciara told you they were better than us, didn't she?" Albus demanded jokingly.

Wren shrugged, smiling, then started off towards James.

As she walked away, Poppy leaned in closer, a conspiratorial smile on her face. "Okay, speaking of the weekend, what's the plan for Sunday? Should we wait to sneak out until after dark?"

I blinked at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Then I gasped. We were sneaking out! To Hogsmeade! To check out what the muggle news outlets had to say about all these murders and disappearances! "Right! That!"

Colette actually put down the Quibbler. "After dark would be better. Think James would let us borrow the Cloak?"

"No way we could all fit under it," Albus scoffed. He turned to Poppy to explain, "James has this invisibility cloak. We used to use it to sneak out all the time, when we were smaller, but now only two people can fit under it well."

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Poppy said, shrugging. "I can make a potion, though, if you really want to be invisible."

We all turned to stare at her. "You can make an invisibility potion?" Colette asked, eyebrows raised.

"Aren't those like, ridiculously hard to brew?" I asked.

"I mean, not really," Poppy said. She let out a nervous chuckle. "It's just following instructions, really. And just knowing when the measurements might be a little off."

Albus was grinning at her in a very adorable way. "That's amazing, Poppy."

Her face was red. "I mean, it's not a big deal, really. Do you think it would help?"

"Absolutely, yes," I said, laughing. "In what scenario would you brewing us an invisibility potion not be super helpful?"

"I can think of so many scenarios where that wouldn't be helpful," Poppy said, laughing. "Like taking your O.W.L.s?"

"Or going to Charms?" Albus suggested.

"To any class, really," Poppy agreed. "Or snogging your boyfriend. Being invisible would really not be useful there."

I glanced at Albus, eyebrow raised, and he responded by flushing red. Poppy started laughing as he stammered, "Okay, I'm pretty sure everyone had to know that had happened. I'm not James, all right?"

"Do you mean you didn't have your first kiss in your dad's office?" I asked, mock disbelief in my tone.

Poppy's eyes grew wide. "They did not. Oh my goodness, did they really?"

Albus was laughing now. "They definitely did. And we were all there!"

"No!" Poppy covered her face, clearly trying to hide the fact that she was laughing as hard as the rest of us. "Oh, that's horrible! Poor Wren!"

"I really don't think she minded," Colette said, "I mean—" She cut herself off and paused to frown at the table for a moment. After a few seconds, she rolled her eyes. I could only guess that was the fidelius charm kicking in.

Poppy didn't seem to have noticed, luckily. "What happened?"

"Oh, we got in trouble for something or other, right?" Albus said, surprisingly convincing. He was looking at me, now, though, an equally horrible liar, to pick up the slack, and I shrugged.

"Yeah, that was it. Wren convinced Mr. Potter to let us off, I think, and then he had to step away to deal with something else, and James kissed her. Really quick. It's not like they were snogging, or anything."

"Anyway, glad to say my brother was not around when I had my first kiss," Albus said, putting his arm around Poppy's shoulders. She laughed and leaned her head against his.

"Okay, for real, though," Colette said. "What's the plan for Sunday? Invisibility potion?"

"Yeah, that's good," Poppy said. "If I start tomorrow morning it should be ready by then."

"Where are you going to brew it?" I asked. "Are you allowed to brew it?"

She shrugged. "I'll ask Lockley if he'll let me use the classroom, just for a personal research project. He normally says yes. Scorpius and I do it all the time."

"What if he says no?" Colette asked.

"I guess I'll use the Room of Requirement. Or maybe some corner of the kitchen. The house elves wouldn't mind, I'm sure, as long as I cleaned up after myself."

"Okay, cool," Colette said, nodding. "So we'll use the invisibility potion. Sneak out just before curfew, go to the Hog's Head, and try to get as much information as we can."

"Simple," I said, smiling. If Wren could do this every couple of weeks, we would have no problem, right?

"How long does the potion last?" Albus asked.

"Depends how much you drink. I'll measure it out so it'll get us outside, then some more to get us back in the castle. We probably don't want to be invisible the whole time, right?"

Colette and Albus both glanced at me. "Maybe enough for Astra," Albus said, "Just in case."

"Just in case of what?" I demanded.

"I don't know," Albus said quickly, putting his hands up. "Stillens doesn't care about the rest of us, does he?"

I wanted to argue, but honestly, Albus was right. I sighed. "I'm only going to drink more if I absolutely have to, all right?"

Poppy smiled. "Of course! I'm sure it'll be all right, anyway. Just bring your cloak, keep your hood up."

The rest of lunch was spent joking around, and was actually kind of fun. Not that there was a reason it wouldn't be, just that I'd had a hard time keeping my mind off things lately. Poppy was better at it than Albus and Colette were, somehow. Maybe because she didn't really know everything, like my dreams and the possibility of Nico Jasper using the Imperius curse on me. Maybe she was just a happier person than the rest of us. I had no idea.

Wren ruined the mood, of course. She came back alone a little before we needed to head to class, looking very upset. When Poppy asked if everything was all right, she shook her head and quietly said she didn't want to talk about it. It was impossible to keep having a good time after that. Clearly, she and James had fought. I wanted to feel bad for her, but all I could feel was frustrated. I couldn't have just one hour of not caring about things, could I?

As we started off to class, I reasoned that the prospect of facing boggarts this afternoon wasn't super fun, so the happiness would've been over sooner or later, anyway, without Wren's help. But it felt better to be angry, so that's what I did. It was easier than trying to fight it.

All the desks were pushed back in Mr. Potter's classroom when we walked in. People were huddled together in groups, and I followed my friends towards the back of the class. Everyone seemed to be trying to get as far away from the chest in the center of the room as possible. Funny, really; you'd think after doing this every year since third year, we'd all be okay with this again. Most people's fears hadn't changed much. But looking around the room, I saw a lot of pale faces, nervous whispering, shaking hands. Everyone was scared.

"Good afternoon, students!" Mr. Potter said, finally. He'd spoken at a normal volume, but the noise sounded thunderous in the hushed quiet. Everyone fell silent immediately. Mr. Potter smiled. "I guess you've all heard somehow, but today we're facing boggarts again."

"I thought we were done with this last year," a Hufflepuff named Trevor said.

"Technically, yes," Mr. Potter said. "Boggarts won't appear on your N.E.W.T.s. However, there's something I haven't taught you about boggarts yet, which I think is a very useful skill to know. So I'm going to ask you to bear with me, get through this lesson, and I think you'll all be glad you did by the end, all right?"

I glanced uncertainly at my friends. Colette rolled her eyes, and even Poppy seemed skeptical. However, no one said anything, so Mr. Potter clapped his hands and stood up. "All right, let's line up, then, and I'll explain what we're doing today!"

Everyone jostled for a place near the back, and we ended up squarely in the middle. I found myself between Wren and Colette, with Albus and Poppy both ahead of us. That was fine, I supposed. Probably would have been better if Wren had ended up in front of someone else, because I didn't really want to deal with her inevitable breakdown and crying that always seemed to happen with boggarts. I guessed Albus would step up.

"Today, we're going to learn how to trick a boggart," Mr. Potter said from the front of the room. "It's  not as difficult as it sounds, though it takes a bit of nonverbal magic, which is why I never taught you how to do it before. Basically, when you know you're encountering a boggart, you can focus on a more minor fear that you have, so that the boggart will turn into that. In most cases, it's easier to defeat that way. So, let's try it! I want you all to face it once as a baseline, then try to trick it, all right?"

So it began. The line steadily moved forward, with people's fears changing from Isaac Predatel or Voldemort or relatives dying to spiders and the dark and snakes (Nico Jasper looked personally offended). I tried to think of what I might trick the boggart to turning into. I was pretty sure it would come up as a dementor at first, since that was what it had always done until last year, when I'd been afraid that Wren was betraying us. I wasn't afraid of that anymore, of course, so I didn't see why my biggest fear wouldn't have gone back to what it was. Maybe I could turn it into falling off my broom? Was I afraid of that? Or maybe Marcus Dillam and Mollie Francis snogging. That was enough to give anyone nightmares, and would be kind of funny, too.

Poppy was going, now. Her boggart first turned into a little boy, maybe eight or nine, crying in pain. Poppy bit her lip, closed her eyes, and seemed to concentrate for a moment. Without warning the boggart turned into a stack of papers with Ds on them that blew all around her. She took a deep breath, said, "Riddikulus," in a more steady voice than I was expecting, and the paper became covered with some meme or something that made all the muggleborns laugh hysterically and left the rest of us who didn't have internet access at home simply confused.

Albus's had changed. It wasn't me dying, but James. He turned it into Professor Sulcan. Instead of using riddikulus, simply punched the boggart in the face, which was by far the funniest thing I'd ever seen him do.

Wren's hadn't changed. Stillens was suddenly standing before us, and I felt an urge to vomit. That would've been funny, wouldn't it? Maybe I would change my boggart to him and throw up on his shoes. He spun into the Bloody Baron, and Wren used riddikulus to turn him into Moaning Myrtle.

It was my turn. I stepped forward confidently, ready to amaze everyone with my patronus, but the boggart took a couple extra seconds to spin. What was it waiting for?

The whirlwind stopped, but the temperature didn't drop. I wasn't staring at a black cloaked figure, hovering above the ground, thirsting for my soul. No, I was staring at the last thing I'd ever expected to see.

Myself.

The boggart didn't do anything. Just stared back at me as I gaped at it. Me? I was scared of myself? I took a shallow breath, then another, because suddenly it didn't feel like I was getting enough oxygen.

"Astra?" Colette was pushing me lightly. "You got this," she whispered.

I nodded, but I wasn't so sure. I hadn't been expecting that. I was scared of myself? I mean, I suppose that was better than it showing up as Nico, because that would have given a lot away. But... I mean, I guess I'd known that, but I'd never really thought about it.

I closed my eyes. Make it change, Astra. It's just a boggart. You can think about it later.

What else was I afraid of? I couldn't even think. Dementors? That was all I knew for sure. I felt the temperature drop before I opened my eyes, then shook my head. I hadn't meant to do that.

"Come on, Astra," came Mr. Potter's voice. "Remember, it's just a boggart."

I opened my eyes, and was almost relieved to see a dementor in front of me. At least I knew I could handle those. I raised my wand and said, "Expecto patronum."

A couple of people gasped. A couple of people groaned. The boggart, however, was forced back into the chest by my glowing blue collie. As the room went back to a normal temperature, I looked over at Mr. Potter to see him shaking his head, smiling. I ducked off to the side, simply relieved that I was finished.

"Were you expecting that?" Albus whispered as I joined him, Poppy, and Wren to the side. I shook my head. He looked like he wanted to ask me about it, so I sat down quickly and pretended to be very focused on watching Colette as Mr. Potter opened the chest again.

Honestly, Colette's boggarts were the most boring. Just a giant pit in the floor? That wasn't even scary. I wasn't sure that Albus would actually leave me alone. However, what came out of the chest was not a pit in the floor. My mouth dropped open as Ferdinand Welling stepped out, one hand gloved.

"Hello, Miss St. Pierre," he said, looming over her. Even the voice seemed real. "I believe you need further correction."

Colette had frozen. She was standing there, blinking at him, actual fear on her face. Her arm, still holding her wand out, was shaking. She was shaking, actually, in general. She closed her eyes tightly, seemed to be mouthing something to herself, but nothing happened. Welling remained.

"Colette, focus on another fear you have," Mr. Potter said. "Or even a common fear. It doesn't necessarily have to be something you're afraid of, as long as you can convince the boggart you are."

Colette's eyes were still squeezed closed. The classroom had become as still and quiet as a room full of statues, everyone holding their breath. It wasn't often that the people boggarts appeared as were people we all knew. It was far less often that Colette St. Pierre, the girl who was afraid of nothing and had never lost her composure, was unable to do something that she wanted to do.

After what seemed like a very long time, her eyes opened again. She looked over at Mr. Potter and shook her head. "I can't do it."

"Just try a little harder," Mr. Potter encouraged.

"I can't do it," she insisted. She blinked quickly, and I realized that she was actually near tears. "I'm sorry..."

Mr. Potter was on his feet already. He ushered her to the side, then waved for Arthur Longbottom to go next. I sprang up, as well, and walked over to my friend.

I put my hand on her shoulder but she tensed up and shook it off. She was blinking rapidly, trying to get rid of tears, I suspected. "Are you all right?" I whispered.

She shook her head, then nodded. "I'm fine."

"Colette, it's perfectly normal to not be able to do this," Mr. Potter said seriously. "Especially when there's trauma that's recent, it's to be expected. Don't feel like this is a reflection on you, all right? Welling was a horrible man, and it makes sense that you'd have trouble getting past that. I suppose you weren't expecting to see him?"

She glanced at me, then looked down at the floor. "I don't know. Maybe I was."

"That's all right." Mr. Potter patted her back. "You're an incredible witch, Colette, and a very strong person."

She gave him a faint smile as he turned back to the class. I put my hand on her shoulder again, and this time she didn't shake me off. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's all right," she said quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I expected her to say no, but Colette considered me for a moment. To my surprise, she gave me a very quick hug. "Maybe sometime." She flashed a very small at me as she pulled back, and I felt a corner of my lip turn up in response.

~~~~

Big news!! Star of Gryffindor just hit 40k views! I'm so grateful and excited and wow this is amazing!! Thank you all for reading and engaging. I love you all so much!

Also, yodelgoats is extremely sweet and made some really neat covers for this series! Go check them out in her cover book (I think it's called manipulated).

By the way, I swear I've been writing this chapter; I haven't been procrastinating. But it just kept getting longer and I would sit down and write 500 words and realize there was so much more in this chapter and it ended up taking a lot longer than I expected? I'm so sorry. Probably should have started earlier, but now I just know for next time.

Question of the Day: When did you take the Pottermore test? If it's been more than a few years, do you think you still belong in that House?

Answer: I mean, obviously your House doesn't really change. But the Pottermore test isn't the Sorting Hat, and it can't tell what you'll be like down the road like the Sorting Hat can. I was just thinking about that because I've changed a lot in the past years, and maybe since I'm past Hogwarts-age it doesn't matter, but I'm not sure I would be sorted into Ravenclaw if I was eleven and this is what I was like. I retook the Pottermore test last week, which I haven't done in literally five years, and was surprised to get Hufflepuff. I still say I'm a Ravenclaw, of course, but it's interesting to see how you change as you grow and mature into an adult. Just wondering if any of you older readers have experienced anything similar!

Vote and comment! And look forward to something really fun in the next chapter! I bet you'll never guess what it is.

~Elli

Word count: 6388 (requested by yodelgoats)