Smoke | James Potter

。thirty 。

☆

astra headed down the steep hill to hagrid's hut, hoping he'd be back from wherever he had been now. she continued to eat her toast as she walked, raven-black hair flowing behind her in the breeze. splotch had moved from her shoulders, settling inside of her large pocket with his head poking out. as febuary was beginning to come to a close, the frost and snow was decreasing as they got closer to the spring of mid-march. james continued to moan how freezing he was all the time, however.

the witch spotted hagrid walking towards his hut and sped up ever so slightly. he walked inside his home and shut the door behind him. moments later, he appeared again, a string of four or five dead ferrets around his neck. curious, astra thought to ask him what he was doing with a group of dead ferrets after greeting him.

"hello, hagrid." astra smiled.

the bearded man turned to her and grinned widely, clapping a ginormous hand on her shoulder in a friendly manner, causing her to stumble in shock for a second, "astra! how've ye been? i haven' seen yer for ages, it feels like!"

"yes, sorry i haven't been down here. tons of homework i can barely keep up with." astra hummed, walking with him as he began to walk away from his hut. "how've you been?"

"oh, i've been doin' al righ'." hagrid smiled, however it faded ever so slightly. "worryin' a lot though."

"what about?" astra inquired.

"if there will be a war or no'. 's not fair on you kids, mos'ly. not really havin' a proper time at hogwarts." hagrid sighed. "still, we've got some of the mos' powerful wizards on our side! we can win this easily!"

astra admired hagrid's optimism in the worst of situations. she didn't feel the same about the potential war. she didn't think voldemort would win, not at the moment, anyway, but she also thought the fight wouldn't be easy. if anything, the probable war would bring great loss and despair to the wizarding world.

"i hope so." astra smiled. she looked ahead to where they were going. "the forbidden forest? what's in there?"

"uh, yer probably shouldn' be comin' wi' me." hagrid grimaced. "she migh' not wanna meet anyone new, righ' now."

"'she'?" astra echoed.

hagrid looked down at the slytherin, his footsteps pausing, "i shouldn'a said tha'. i should not've said that!"

"i can stay far away, but i'd like to come with. i fancy a walk, if i'm honest." astra mused. "and i won't tell anyone if whoever is in here isn't supposed to be here."

"i know yet won'." hagrid smiled. "but yer may wanna stay back for a momen'. just to be sure, y'know?"

the unlikely pair continued deep into the forest, passing the centaurs with hesitation. however, they left them alone when seeing it was hagrid, who had never brought any harm to them. they were wary of astra, but seeing as though she was with hagrid and looked more in awe and adoration of them than she was threatening towards them, they left her alone.

a few unicorns skirted away from hagrid, one brave on sniffing astra's hair with a craned neck before rushing to its family when hagrid stepped on a large twig. smaller creatures filled the forest, hidden in bushes and ponds and trees, but they payed the pair no mind as they continued their stroll.

astra often found herself around some sort of creature when with hagrid. the tall wizard even convinced her to meet his friend, aragog, and his family once. astra had no fear of spiders, but aragog had threatened to kill her until hagrid made it explicitly clear she was a dear friend and no offence to their species, or any species at all.

"stay back for a sec." hagrid muttered, holding a hand out in front of astra and she obliged, standing still beside a clear pond. he disappeared around a thick tree trunk, muttering to something. astra heard the crunch of something chewing, assuming the creature was now eating a ferret. "alrigh', astra, yer can come see now. but be slow and careful!"

astra listened to his orders, her walk slow and gentle, barely making a noise on the leaves beneath her boots. splotch ducked his head into her pocket, only his ears popping out now the slytherin held back a gasp of astonishment as she saw a large hippogriff lay down in front of a tree trunk, snacking away on the ferret. the majestic creature looked up at astra and gave a loud noise of surprise and offence. it made astra stop in her footsteps when the hippogriff stood up, the dead ferret forgotten at their feet.

"yer need t'..." hagrid trailed off when he saw that astra was already bowing to the creature, holding eye contact with it and trying to show as much respect as she could silently.

a few seconds passed by and the hippogriff bowed back before sitting back down, munching away. astra grinned and straightened her stance, moving beside hagrid, "salazar, they are beautiful!"

"isn' she just!" hagrid beamed. "i named 'er witherwings, i did."

"i like it. unusual and unique." astra hummed. "it suits her."

"she's pregnan', too." hagrid announced. "i found 'er in 'ere. i did tell dumbledore and he said tha' she were fine t' stay. i can care for 'er, as well! and the baby when they come!"

"that's great news, hagrid." astra replied, truly thrilled for him and the creature.

"would yer mind helpin' every so of'en?" hagrid requested. "dumbledore mentioned he migh' need me for some things outside of hogwarts which means i won' always be 'ere for 'er."

"absolutely, i will." astra nodded immediately. "how far along is she?"

"i can' be too sure. but i think she's nearly ready t' give birth." hagrid mused. witherwings suddenly squawked at the pair, done with her ferret. "d'yer wanna feed 'er?"

"can i?" astra asked and hagrid nodded with a beaming grin, handing astra a ferret. she stepped towards the hippogriff slowly, holding the ferret out for her. she snatched the food from her, chewing it down happily. "i can't believe i just did that."

"it's good, isn' it?" hagrid hummed as she moved back in step with him.

"yeah. getting the trust of a creature as great as a hippogriff is astonishing, really." astra chuckled.

"how's lessons been? minus the homework, o' course." hagrid asked.

"not too bad. DADA's been a little underwhelming. i can't seem to form a full corporal patronus." astra mumbled. "a lot of people have already. most, in fact. i just can't seem to think of something."

"when did yer try last?" hagrid inquired.

"a week ago. i keep pretending in the actual lesson. it's rather embarrassing." astra sighed.

hagrid's bushy eyebrows furrowed, "how so?"

"i can't think of anything happy enough." astra frowned. "i'm 17, i should be the happiest i'll ever be at this age. but no. imagine being the only one in your class unable to think of something that makes you elated. it's awful. i feel like i'm... misplaced, or something."

"yer not misplaced, astra." hagrid assured with his familiar, friendly grin that somehow managed to peek from beneath his bushy beard. "yer've had a hard life, so far. yer may not mention it, but i know yer do. but it'll get better for yer. yer'll get a job you love, a house of yer own and pets. i'm sure there'll be a time when yer can produce the strongest of patronuses."

astra smiled up at the large wizard, "thank you, hagrid."

"no problem, astra! d'ye wanna feed her again?"

astra nodded and fed witherwings another ferret, standing back and watching the astonishing creature just living. she'd decided between magical creatures and astronomy now; hopefully, after her N.E.W.Ts, she'd be able to be taught by their care of magical creatures professor before becoming one herself.

{1302}