"That's actually what I wanted to ask you, Daph." she said with a small smile. One other difference in the two girls was their personalities. Astoria was very talkative and outgoing and seemed to make a lot of friends, even ones from other houses who might have otherwise thought it strange to meet a Slytherin so likable. Daphne preferred to keep a few good friends and didn't really care what anyone else thought. Astoria could also be very blunt when she had something to say or ask.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Daphne asked.
"Oh a lot of things. Like where have you been disappearing to every night for the past few weeks?"
"I'm studying, Astoria. Perhaps you aren't familiar with doing that? Honestly, I hear you are scraping by with an Acceptable in Herbology." She tried her best not to look at all surprised or interested in Astoria's accusation, but mentally she was kicking herself for not being more careful.
"I'll bring the grade up by the end of the year, and quit trying to change the subject. I know you haven't been in the library."
"There are lots of places in the castle to study, it doesn't have to be done in the library you know."
"Ok, maybe so. I'll give you that one. But what about this?" Astoria motioned to the new dress that her mother had sent her to wear to the Yule Ball. Daphne had been in a rush to get to class when she had received the package and had simply left the dress on her bed. "I know this is a new dress, which could only be for the Yule Ball. But no one else seemed to think you were the least bit interested in going. So spill it, who is the lucky guy?"
"That's what this is about, you want to gossip about me?" Daphne asked incredulously.
"Well, that and at the end of his last letter to me dad wrote 'remember to listen to your sister, no matter what happens in the next few weeks'. Leading me to think something strange is going to happen in the next few weeks." Daphne sighed and shook her head, knowing that she was going to have to tell her sister something, even if she didn't want to explain everything.
"Ok Astoria, I'll tell you a little. Yes, that dress is for the Yule Ball."
"I bet mom and dad know who you are going with, don't they?" Astoria whined.
"Yes. And they approve, so you should stop worrying about that. I would tell you who I'm going with but I know how bad you are at keeping secrets." Daphne said aiming a mocking smile at her sister.
"I am not!" she responded angrily. "Fine, don't tell. Why should I care anyway?"
"You actually should." Daphne said with a sigh. "I have a feeling that after the Yule Ball our fellow Slytherins might not like me too much. I can take care of myself, but you have to let me know if anyone is giving you a hard time because of me ok?" Astoria looked at her sister with a confused expression on her face. She couldn't think of any reason for Daphne to think that, but she did trust her older sister enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. Plus, whatever was going on, seemed to have worried her parents a little as well.
"Alright Daph. But after the Yule Ball you are going to tell me everything."
"Agreed. Now get out of here, I want to sleep." Daphne said as she stood and picked up her dress in order to hang it up. Astoria nodded and left the room, wishing she could help her older sister with whatever was troubling her. Once she was gone, Daphne frowned and looked at the closed door her sibling had just walked out of. She could only guess what her house's reaction to her date with Harry Potter was going to be, but she promised herself that if anyone laid a finger on Astoria they would pay for it in a variety of painful ways. And if necessary she could always ask Harry to help she thought with a evil grin, she knew he would be happy to do it.
...
On the last day of classes in the winter semester the student population was in a mild state of panic, as was completely normal. The last round of end of semester exams was today, and for the fourth year Gryffindors that meant Potions with Professor Snape. Harry had found over the years that his work had to be almost flawless in order to receive even a passing grade. The result, although Snape would never admit it, was that Harry had turned out to be quite a proficient potions brewer. Even so, he knew that Snape took special joy in criticizing his exams, so even though Harry felt confident he knew what he was doing going into the test he could never be sure what the result would be. Luck was on his side today as Vincent Crabbe had somehow managed to blow up his cauldron a quarter of the way through the test. Professor Snape was too distracted handling the aftermath to sabotage Harry's potion and as a result he had completed the potion as close to perfectly as he thought possible. It might even be good enough for an Exceeds Expectations grade from the greasy git of a professor.
With his exams done and feeling good about his day so far, Harry decided to take the golden egg down to a quiet spot by the lake and give it another try. He was convinced that his original idea of casting Incendio on the egg had been a good one and thought that maybe he just needed to get the egg hotter. The thought of casting the fire spell at full power inside the castle made him nervous, he had no intention of becoming The-Boy-Who-Burned-Down-Hogwarts after all, so he decided that doing it outside was a much better option. He had found rocky section next to a side of the lake facing the Forbidden Forest and thought it was a perfect place for his experiment. As long as he set the egg on the rocks and cast towards the lake there was little chance that even the grass would catch fire. And, on the off chance it did, there would be a large body of water nearby he could use to put the fire out.
....
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