your wisdom is older than me

[Deleted]

When Astoria had any free time in her busy schedule of studying and writing essays and begging her tutors for an extra day of help because of a huge assignment she had due, she went to the library to do some research on what she liked to call her ultimate goal: becoming an animagus. She wasn’t entirely sure what she would use this for, just that it would prove to herself just how good she actually was at transfiguration and research and such and that all those years of studying would finally be good for something. She didn’t have a goal other than that: to prove to herself that silly Astoria could do something of this caliber and how amazing it would feel to sign her name to the animagus registry. She was sorely glad she knew how to take really good notes (when it came to something she was interested in at least) because a lot of the books were ones she couldn’t check out of the library, and others were ones that would make her look very suspicious if the librarian wrote it up. She could come straight out and say she was interested in being an animagus, but she was a fifth year and they might start to monitor her more closely if she did with the fear that she would try something on her own. She might have been silly and she might not have been brilliant, but stupid was never something that she thought should ever be put into the same sentence with her name. She knew how dangerous the process was, it had been the first thing she looked up when she had first become interested in it in her fourth year. She had no desire to end up like some of those poor souls, twisted into animal and human parts to be sorted out at St. Mungo’s. Of course, they all usually ended up just fine, though honestly that wasn’t much of a relief to her. No, she would do her research and wait until her sixth year to broach the subject with the head of Gryffindor. Until then, she would do copious amounts of research on the subject, taking down as many notes as she could so when the time came, she could prove that it wasn’t just a passing desire some girl had, that she was serious about it and spent her time thinking about it and the possible consequences. That was what found her in the back stacks of the library, going through the books on advanced transfigurations. She had a couple of heavy books balanced precariously in her arms while she scanned through the titles. While Astoria was highly interested in becoming an animagus, transfiguration was also one of her best subjects, the one she excelled at with barely any effort and so she found herself very interested in many of the titles she came across. Sometimes she couldn’t resist pulling down a particularly fascinating tome to add to her growing stack of books and she figured it might help if it didn’t look as though she was focusing on just one aspect of transfigurations. She doubted, however, that someone of any matter of intelligence would be more than slightly confused by her choice in books should they choose to examine them. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lupin, the new librarian, probably knew exactly what she was researching and why. He was much smarter than Madame Pince, in Astoria’s opinion, had been.

DRACO | 586 | if this blows i'm sorry NOT SORRY bye

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

Draco honestly did not know what was worse. Being taught one of his favorite subjects by the lion tamer herself, or having it taught by a man he honestly respected and had to hate on principle. Shaking his head, Draco pulled down another account of self-transfigurations gone wrong and how best to avoid the same scenarios and wondered just what Lucas Mulciber would do if he asked the man to help him discover what his animagus form would be. If it got back to his parents, Draco would die. Not literally of course, but there would be enough soul withering to make death seem a preferable option. Still, Draco felt better going to a Slytherin about the affair than he did McGonagall. She was even more biased than Severus was. At least his Godfather had an excuse for his behaviour – she, however, as head of the golden house, had no such explanations beyond pure unbridled prejudice. Take that into account with the fact she hardly got on well with his parents and she was all but rendered useless to him. Still, Draco knew how useful animagi were and if he could become one, that would be just one other thing that would make him useful in the eyes of the Dark Lord and therefore permit him to further clear his father’s name. Sighing, Draco rounded the shelves to another area of the advanced transfiguration section and wondered, not for the first time, what Severus knew on the subject. His Godfather had so much going on however, and what with Draco trying to deceive him as he was, it wouldn’t do to spend too much time in his presence. Just another reason to hate this year, he supposed, so lost in thought that he nearly walked into a floating stack of books. His first impression irritated him. Why he thought Granger even in exasperation was beyond him. It was probably a Ravenclaw, he dismissed even as he tried to squeeze by them, only to knock a few of the books down. In frustration, Draco immediately turned this problem onto the Ravenclaw with a snapped, ”Would you watch where you’re going – oh.” The acid tones dropped instantly upon realization that this was, in fact, a fellow serpent. ”It’s you. Greengrass, isn’t it?” He inquired, tones levelled proper and polite as he even went so far as to pick up the books he’d caused her to drop. ”Have you considered a levitation charm?” He asked, not unkindly as he set the books back on her stack. ”Might make things a bit easier on you.”

ASTORIA | Credit to Sol @ TDA for the graphic

[Deleted]

The girl nearly snapped at Malfoy when he directed his rude comment at her, though she bit back any nasty words she might have said when he corrected himself. She knew who it was by his voice, having heard it enough in the halls and in the common room for a number of years. When she first came to Hogwarts, most of what she had heard him saying revolved around the phrase “my father will hear about this!” but she’d noticed that he had matured from that phase. He had been just a boy, after all, when Astoria came to the great castle. Recently, however, he’d been less talkative, at least that she’d noticed. It wasn’t something she had any place to ask about though. It bothered her though that he’d only changed her tone because of who she was: a Slytherin and a pureblood. Being rude was what had gotten him his nasty reputation around the school in the first place, didn’t he know the benefits of being polite to others? Then again, maybe he had parents like her mother who stressed how important he was compared to other people. It was true that Draco was a culmination of the Malfoys and the Blacks, two famous and great pureblood families, but she didn’t see how that excused sneering at other people. That was her opinion, however. “Yes, Astoria Greegrass,” she replied and moved forward to balance her books against her hip and one of the lower shelves so she could fish out her wand. “That’s actually a brilliant idea. I just got so caught up in picking off books that I didn’t think of anything like that, thank you.” She waved her wand and cast the charm and immediately her load lightened. Astoria stuck her wand back in her pocket and held out her hand to him. “I don’t believe we’ve actually talked before, at least not much. It’s nice to finally get that chance, Malfoy. Er, do you prefer Draco? What are you doing in this section anyway? I heard you were a genius at potions so it doesn’t seem like your section.” She blushed and clamped her mouth closed when that came out of it. The girls did gossip around the dorms about the cutest boys in Slytherin and Draco was a name that often came up with them. It was only through listening in (and participating sometimes, she would admit to that) to these conversations that she discovered various things such as that. Pansy was always bragging about Malfoy anyway like he belonged to her, but she really did have the best information on him, being in his year and all and rather, according to her, close to him. She hoped he was good at potions, otherwise she’d look like more of a fool than she already did for blurting that out.

DRACO | 478 | HOW ARE YOUR PEACOCKS MALFOY. DO THEY HAVE AN OSTRICH PROBLEM?

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

Draco nodded distantly at the girl as she thanked him for what was, in all honestly, a fairly obvious suggestion, his mind already focussing on other things. There was one other text he was looking for, and he had been certain that it had been in this section. Just as he was about to carry on, her hand was thrust out and social proprieties dictated his actions almost without his consent. Reaching out, Draco accepted her hand and gave it a formal shake even as he heard himself respond distractedly, ”Malfoy is fine,” As a Prefect, he was supposed to be more open with the younger Slytherins, and Draco knew from his own experiences precisely how a Prefect of his house was meant to behave. Forcing himself back to attention, he shook his head a bit and corrected himself quietly, ”Publically, mind. In the common room, you can call me whatever you feel more comfortable with.” He gave her the smallest hint of a smile, a bit of an apology for his distraction, though it cost him more than it should have. When had smiling become so bloody tiresome? ”I’m doing a bit of extra-curricular research at the moment. Transfigurations are a bit of a hobby, though you are well informed,” He added, his brow raising in an unconscious imitation of his godfather – Head of House. Always having to differentiate when Severus was Professor Snape and when he was just Severus had been a pain in his first few years, but Draco was glad of the enforced habit now. ”Potions are my speciality.” He didn’t ask where she had heard it. The Slytherin girls were notorious gossips, and Pansy seemed consistently determined to keep him up on all the things that were said as though he actually cared what girls had to say about him. It had been an ego boost for a good while, but now it was just plain annoying. The girl’s chatter could drive even a Hufflepuff to madness. He was just about to step toward the section that would have the book he was looking for when – of all the things – he noted it sitting innocuously in Astoria’s collection. Both brows shot skyward as he looked directly at the title, then back to Astoria. ”It seems I’m not the only one looking into extra-curricular Transfigurations,” He drawled, a hand falling to his hip in yet another unconscious imitation – that of his mother at her less-than-impressed and you-had-best-explain-yourself best. ”Bestia Animus: Hominus Corpus, Greengrass? A bit of a hefty read for fourth year course work, that one.”

ASTORIA | Credit to Sol @ TDA for the graphic