⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ (viii. an accepted deal) ↳ in which he is left bewildered
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'IDEALISM SITS IN PRISON, CHIVALRY FELL ON HIS SWORD, INNOCENCE DIED SCREAMING; HONEY, ASK ME, I SHOULD KNOW'
Cafe Bonheur, Diagon Alley ━━━━ October 16th, 2000
It had been a week and Fred's conflictingly gracious offer had been the most prominent and recurring thought in Asteria's mind; which of course meant that he had also been a rather perturbing feature in her thoughts by association.
The brunette knew she was being rather foolish by denying him. She needed the space and they both knew it - the only thing that was stopping her from accepting was the fact that it was Fred Weasley who had offered.
The same Fred Weasley that didn't hesitate to make his opinions of her public. His prejudiced views of Slytherins and defected Death Eaters were well known and shared by most within Wizarding Britain.
He didn't trust her, much less like her enough to offer her help - which begs the question of why he'd gone to her in the first place if not to either make a fool of her or find some way to incriminate her.
Asteria realised she was overthinking things and being stupid - she tended to do that a lot after the war, though she could hardly be blamed. It seemed everyone in Wizarding Britain had an ulterior motive nowadays.
Even still, Fred Weasley couldn't be deceptive and manipulative even if he tried - at least, not from what Asteria knew of him. Which, albeit was rather little but still significant enough to prove her point.
Fred may have hated her, but the fact that he was a Gryffindor remained. By very nature, they were reckless and careless - throwing themselves headfirst into a situation without thought of the consequences. They weren't quite sly or patient enough to form elaborate plans to get what they wanted.
Thus, Asteria came to the conclusion that Fred Weasley was desperate. The only other reason he would come to her, of all people, for help was if he was in dire need of it - and Salazar did Asteria want to know why.
Each time she had seen him in passing in Diagon Alley this past week - his eyes just a little duller than usual and his typical manner slightly askew - her curiosity burned deeper. Asteria loved having all of the information; knowing things that not everyone else did. It was how she managed to stay a few steps ahead of everyone else.
And Fred Weasley was keeping her in the dark. A fact that both infuriated her and intrigued her, which is why she had been actively seeking him out over the past week - though she'd adamantly deny it if anyone was to catch her out.
Yet, even despite her current stalkerish acts, she'd had to have been blind to not notice the obvious change in the man. Fred had become a lot colder and distant over the course of the past week - as though he was a victim of the Imperius curse.
