STRANGE LOVE | O. WOOD ✔

[10] : FISHY BUSINESS

Astrid sat next to Derrick as they practiced the spell Flitwick had taught them yesterday. She heard Hillary sigh before her hand was plunged into the air.

"Professor, do you think that Harry Potter truly is the heir of Slytherin?" Astrid couldn't help but snort. At first, she too thought that Harry might be his heir, but after thorough investigation, she had gathered enough evidence to prove that he isn't.

Flitwick looked taken aback. "I don't know what to think anymore Miss Popston." He admitted.

Derrick's hand shot up in the air. "Sir, what are the Chamber Of Secrets?" Flitwick blinked several times before answering.

"As you all know, the school was built thousands of years ago. It was founded by four greatest witches and wizards. Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin." He sighed. "Three of them coexisted harmoniously but one of them didn't." Astrid already knew the answer to that. Salazar Slytherin obviously didn't want to coexist with the others in peace and harmony. She knew that Salazar valued the Pure-Blood status too much. "Slytherin didn't like the idea of having Muggle born wizards and witches at the school. He wanted to put up a ban, of course the other founders thought it was wrong and Salazar fled, but not before he created the Chamber Of Secrets and hid a monster in it."

"What monster is it?" Hillary asked in her shrill voice. It was very unpleasant to listen to and Astrid sometimes cursed at herself for sitting next to her.

"I wouldn't know Miss Popston, the school has been searched many times and no chamber or monster has been found." Flitwick sighed. "Please continue with your spells." He looked worried, distraught. Astrid wouldn't blame him.

"Have you got the hang of it Astrid?" Derrick asked Astrid and she nodded. The spell was fairly simple. "Can you perhaps help me?"

"Okay, firstly, it's pronounced Depulso." Astrid said, waving her own wand to summon the button Flitwick had them banish. "Watch my hand closely." And he did, and after a few tries, he finally got the hang of it and he thanked Astrid.

"Do you think Harry truly is the heir of Slytherin?" Derrick whispered to Astrid and noted that his breath smelled like fish. She didn't recall them eating fish at lunch.

"I know for a fact that he isn't." Astrid said, running a hand through her dark, onyx hair. Derrick slowly shook his head.

"But he is a Parselmouth." He argued.

"And he doesn't even know it." She pointed out, hoping Derrick won't talk to her anymore but then again, she wanted fish. "Hey, where'd you get fish?"

"The Hufflepuff table had fish." He shrugged and Astrid's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" She asked and Derrick nodded, summing the button to him before banishing it again. "I have a bone to pick with Cedric, a huge bone. A fish bone."

*

"So there was fish on the table at lunch and you decided to hide it from me? I thought we were friends Cedric, friends don't hide food from their friends. That's utterly wrong and unfair." Astrid whined, plunging herself between Cedric and Oliver. Cedric sighed.

"I hid the fish, because I knew you were going to do that." He pointed to Derrick, who was currently blowing his fishy breath onto Susan Bones' face. "And that's gross."

"You don't know that for sure Ced." She said with a pout and Cedric rolled his brown eyes at her before handing her pumpkin juice. Her dark eyes lit up and she gulped it down. He stuffed other foods in front of her, avoiding the beet, as he knew she hated it.

"I hear Malfoy is your new Seeker." Oliver said and Astrid momentarily stopped breathing. She helped Draco of course but she wanted to be on the pitch. She wanted to be on a broom. She hid the lust of wanting to play again very well but she ached to play. Ached to have Marcus shout at her for no apparent reason, and odd as it may sound, she ached for the unforgiving laps she had to do. All Astrid wanted to do was play.

"Yeah." She mumbled, stuffing a piece of bread in her mouth. Her eyes narrowed in on the fish. Cedric shook his head.

"And that your uncle bought them new brooms." Oliver added, taking a bite from his drumstick.

"Yeah, that too." Astrid replied, more focused on the fish. Cedric shook his head again, pushing the fish away. She narrowed her dark eyes at him, he smirked, daring her to do something. Astrid tackled him to the ground but before she could grab the fish, Cedric pulled her down with her skirt and she fell flat in her butt. Filch immediately came to inspect what the ruckus was about.

"We fell." Astrid mumbled, grabbing a piece of fish when Cedric looked away. "We're sorry." She smiled at him with a fake smile before taking her seat and stuffing her mouth with the fish, looking for bones and pulling them out here and there.

"I hate Filch more than ever at the moment." Cedric mumbled, pinching his nose closed when Astrid blowed her fishy breath his way. Oliver did the same when Astrid turned to him.

"Okay, on a more serious note, I've been having these super weird dreams. I wrote to my aunt about them, she doesn't know what they could possibly mean." Astrid said, downing Oliver's cup of juice. "There's this woman in my dreams. She has silvery blonde hair and she is extremely beautiful. I'm dancing with her at a ball then she's hunched over Cedric, crying and the dream always ends with these two people, a woman with dark long hair and a man with brown hair and they are holding hands, the most creepy thing is that she kind of looks like me."

"Have you told anyone besides your aunt?" Oliver asked, glancing at the staff table. Astrid shook her head.

"If you're implying that I tell Trelawney, forget it." She seethed. "She's bonkers and I swear she's going to tell me that the silvery blonde haired girl is going to my girlfriend and that the man with brown hair and the lady with dark hair are my parents."

"Well, you know that your dad is Sirius." Cedric said, pushing the fish further away from Astrid's grasp. However, she had lost interest in the fish.

"Y-yeah." She said, glancing at the staff table. Snape wasn't looking at them, he and Gilderoy were engaged in a conversation. Astrid wondered what they were talking about. She saw Gilderoy smile and she could feel herself melt.

"Astrid?" Oliver asked and Astrid hummed. "Do you want to watch me practice tomorrow afternoon?" When he noticed the slight discomfort in her eyes, surprisingly, he added, with burning cheeks, "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sorry, I don't know why I asked. You know what, you d-"

"Oliver!" Astrid laughed and smiled at him. "I'd love to." And if they noticed Cedric's disappointed stare, they didn't make it evident. They continued to talk about pointless things and Cedric simply decided that Hannah would make a better companion for now.