A Changed Lestrange (1-2) (under editing)

11: Deathday

The weekend. Probably the only time Ashton ever was completely at ease with himself. Even then he was still as angsty and edgy as he always was. He was outside in the courtyard, looking as depressed as ever, with a jacket, watching the rain fall. For his usual sour attitude, listening and enjoying the sound of rain is a pretty suiting pastime for somebody like him.

The rest of September flew by all too quickly after Hermione's birthday. Madam Pomfrey was often occupied by a plethora of students with a plethora of colds amongst themselves. Ron's little sister Ginny, who was looking slightly ill at the time, had swiped Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup Potion, which was a potion used to cure the common cold, and was left with smoke pouring out of her ears for hours, and the steam's emergence from the ears gave her the impression her head was on fire. Ashton tried making a joke about it to ease the tension between himself and Ginny, which ended up only making things worse as Ginny misunderstood, thinking that Ashton had placed some sort of wretched curse on her to set her hair on fire. Horrified, she bolted in search of her brothers.

So now Ashton was on the run from an enraged Percy Weasley - whose big brain had come to the conclusion that Ashton Lestrange was in fact culprit for the smoke, rather than the actual potion. Ashton might not have a care in the world for most things, and was definitely not scared of the stuck-up prat, but he also had at least one working braincell, as he realised that deciding to face up to a sixth-year who was also a Prefect when he was just a second-year was a pretty dumb idea. It was best to stay out in the rain as there was no way the pompous prick was coming out there any time soon, he was probably too scared his Prefect badge's shine would get dampened by the blasted water dripping from above.

Ashton wasn't against sitting in the rain, far from it. He hadn't done his usual routine in a while. It always reminded him of the orphanage times. Before the "you're a wizard, Ashton" rubbish came along.

Harry was still training with the Quidditch team - which was obviously in the pouring rain, much to the annoyance of the whole team. Wood's enthusiasm, however, was unfazed. Hermione was back in the library studying and Ron was no doubt trying to copy answers off her.

Ashton must've lost all feeling of time, because in a nod of the head, all of the rain had dried up - leading him to the conclusion that Percy had given up on trying to find him. He headed back inside, also finding out that the Quidditch team were also done with all of their training. Ashton faced his wand against himself, did a 's' movement with his hand before muttering 'scourgify' before re-entering the castle, all of the water and mud on his clothes now vanished.

He encountered a set of muddy footprints on the floor, and having a faint clue of who they belonged to, flapped his hood off of his face and chased after them, eventually into Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington - or for the people who didn't want to sound like they had a broom shoved up their backside, Nearly Headless Nick. He was the ghost of Gryffindor and, in typical ghost fashion, looked extremely panicked. 

"Ah! Ashton, my friend, would you be so kind as to help me in assisting young Mr Potter?" he asked rushedly.

"What did he do?" groaned Ashton.

"Oh no, I believe his current predicament may be my own doing for keeping him in one place for too long." he said. "You see, we were talking about my unfair treatment when I enquired to join the Headless Hunt, they responded to my very polite request with this poppycock," he pulled a letter out of nowhere and waved it under Ashton's nose. "unfortunately, Mr Filch found us and noticed Harry's muddy shoes, and took him to his office for, um, 'befouling the castle', as he put it."

"So what, in your infinite wisdom, do you plan to do about it?" asked Ashton, staring at him expectantly. 

"Well, I was going to find Peeves and-" before Nick could finish his sentence, there was a loud crack and a sprite appeared sitting cross-legged above air.