My Cross To Bear [Astoria]

[harryjamespotter]

Harry's patience was being tested well beyond what he had ever before experienced here at Hogwarts. The collective nonsense of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and Heir of Slytherin affairs seemed mild and childish in comparison to this latest mess.

In all honesty, it wasn't the fact that his reputation was being dragged through the mud that really bothered Harry this time. He had fast come to realize that the Wizarding community had a habit of turning its opinions at the drop of a hat if it made for convenient gossip.

Nor, really, did Harry care much at all that Professor Dumbledore was being besmirched about the papers either. The man was old and if he didn't have a thick skin by this point, there was no hope for him. That said, harry wasn't exactly pleased with the Headmaster either, so there was a teeny, tiny bit of sadistic pleasure in it for Harry. The fact the man was ignoring him when harry needed him the most was galling and infuriating, so the boy left the papers to their gossiping ways without a care.

No, what got to Harry was the complete insignificance in which Cedric Diggory's death was regarded. The Hufflepuff boy had been a good person and he had not deserved to die that way. Nor had he deserved to be called a spare.

What infuriated Harry was the fact that the Wizarding world was pretty much treating Cedric in just that manner. He was a spare, just a bump in the printing road before the 'scandals' of Dumbledore and Potter. His death was glossed over until it was ignored entirely.

When confronted on it, Umbridge had referred to Diggory's death as an accident, which had been the final straw for Harry. He'd kept his cool after points were taken and detention was assigned, but as soon as he broke free of that dreadful woman's class, Harry wasted no time in escaping Ron and Hermione to get some air.

The last thing Harry wanted was either of his friends in his space at the moment, because he knew he just could not handle their respective methods of interrogative concern. He just needed to breathe and pull himself back together, because the rage toward all this was just too much to face surrounded by stone walls.

Once outside and down by the lake, it took several sharply thrown rocks before Harry had managed to find enough calm in himself to start skipping them properly. Once he could skip rocks without feeling the urge to scream bloody murder at the sky above him, Harry finally took a seat on the grass and rested his forehead on his knees, entirely unaware of the fact someone had been watching him for a time.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

“He’s lying, most definitely. Maybe Umbridge should give him some Veritiserum or something.” Pansy said from her sitting spot on her bed. Millicent shook her head. “I don’t think he’s lying about Cedric being murdered, but I think he’s lying about the Dark Lord being back.” The girl nodded as she spoke. “Do you think Potter killed him?” Pansy questioned. Millicent smirked. “He could possibly have. No one was there to see it.” Astoria couldn’t take this nonsense anymore. “Besides the Death Eaters. Have Draco ask his dad so you two can finally talk about something else.” She was glad she was already ready for a run, because she would not be able to be in there any longer just to change into her jogging clothes. On her way out she heard Pansy’s last sentence. “Oh, that is a good idea. I need to go find Drakie then.” Astoria rolled her eyes. That woman looked for any excuse to talk to Draco, which is why Tori really didn’t hang out with them much anymore. There was only so much Pansy one could take. She would still hang out with the boys, but only the boys. They were a handful themselves, but at least they weren’t annoying.

Heading out onto the grounds, Astoria took off jogging. Blaise made fun of her for it, but it was a little habit she had picked up when she was little. It was something she loved doing and she really didn’t care what people thought. Pansy had come out with her once. That ended up with Tori laughing because Pansy did not get very far at all. Hell, she barely made it to the Forbidden Forest. Tori chuckled to herself as she kept her pace up. She jogged for about an hour before stopping at the Black Lake. Someone was there. She moved closer to the figure and found out it was Harry Potter skipping rocks, and he did not look happy. She watched as he seemed to calm down and he sat down in the grass.

Astoria wasn’t like the other Slytherins. She actually gave people a chance. This was the main reason she would never be able to become a Death Eater. She would not be able to watch random people get murdered for stupid reasons, or no reasons at all really. It was this attitude that made her walk up to the Boy Who Lived and sit next to him. That and because she was exhausted. She looked at him and gave him a small smile. ”You okay there Potter?”

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[harryjamespotter]

Harry did not respond immediately when someone sat beside him, expecting it to be one of his friends or housemates and not really feeling in the mood to talk to any of them just yet. As such, when the voice that spoke was one he didn't even recognize fully, he was a bit surprised.

Looking over, Harry found himself facing a vaguely familiar Slytherin girl who sort of resembled a girl he shared a few classes with. He'd never spoken with her or the girl she resembled of course - as a general rule he stayed clear of the Slytherin students simply for sanity's sake. He'd come to the conclusion in about second year that the best way to keep from making enemies simply by association was just to avoid the serpents altogether.

As such, it was doubly surprising that a Slytherin student would willingly approach him, especially this year. For a moment Harry was almost dubious of her, before coming to the realization that aside from her house, he had no reason to suspect her approaching him. He was, after all, an unfortunately well known student and every now and then there was someone who would approach him just to say they had actually done it. Annoying as hell really, but there you were.

Looking at her, Harry idly suspected she wasn't the type to go about twittering after talking to Harry Potter, so he didn't bother with one of his bland smiles. Instead he just sort of raised a brow before looking up at the castle. "I'd ask Umbridge that one, if I were you. She seems to have a much better idea of what's okay and what's not than anyone else. Really wise woman, her." he drawled, unable to keep back his anger with the wretched pink witch.

Sighing, Harry ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "I'm not in a good mood, no," He admitted, though by that point it was blatantly obvious. He didn't seem to mind overly much that it was a Slytherin to whom he was talking to now that he'd thought it over. "Not sure if you were there for Umbridge's class today - I was a bit...distracted." He muttered, though he was fairly sure this girl wasn't in the same classes with him. He couldn't recall her name or that of the girl she resembled for the life of him, though he was fairly certain they were sisters. "Imagine you heard about it though." He added, looking at her as though that explained exactly why his mood was what it was.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria noticed that her approaching him and actually talking to him made him curious. She also noticed that he recognized her, but probably not too well. She was okay with this though because they were in rival houses. She hated the house rivalry, and she hated that she was the only Slytherin who thought that. There were a lot of people in her house who would hex her if they knew what she really thought. As much as she wanted to think and act how she wanted, she wanted to have a good time at school as well.

When he responded and said the bit about Umbridge, she scoffed. ”I despise that bloody woman. I don’t care what’s wrong and what’s right in her opinion. This is not her school, nor will it ever be.” It was true. While all her housemates loved her for torturing the students not in their house, she was staying in her common room or going on runs. She hated hanging out in her common room. She could only stand them for so long. Draco and Blaise weren’t too bad when you just hang out with them, but other than that, she stayed away from the common room all together.

Tori felt bad for the boy. He never asked for this. To have all this going on in his life? She would have killed herself by now. Or at least ran away to America or something. Changed her name and all that nonsense. ”I’m sorry. I’d be feeling the same thing if everyone I knew what against me.” She nodded when he explained how he was out of it during class. She gave him a sympathetic look. ”The only thing I’ve been hearing is stuff from my sister and Pansy and all them. Not very good people to hear things from. Stories get twisted and they’re not very nice about it. I tend to ignore them.” She gave a shrug and hoped he wouldn’t think she was like them.

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[harryjamespotter]

The first words she spoke had her instantly on Harry's good side. Anyone who despised Umbridge - be it a Slytherin or Snape his bloody bat self - was an ally in his books. Relaxing somewhat, he snorted derisively and nodded.

"Hermione's furious about the Ministry exerting control over the school like this, but honestly its not even the political agenda that gets me. Its the fact that she treats us like we're all idiots and acts like Cedric's death didn't matter at all that really bothers me."

Harry clenched his arms tighter around his legs and glared out toward the lake, fury rolling inside of him in waves. "I don't care if nobody wants to believe Voldemort is back, but how dare she stand there and brush off the fact that someone died. The Prophet never mentions him now. Its like he never existed and its not right."

Cedric Diggory was not a spare. Harry hadn't really gotten much of a chance to know him, but Cedric had proven to be kind, respectful and very fair in most of the things he did. The people who knew and loved him deserved better than to have his death ignored like this. It was bad enough Voldemort killed him and the Ministry refused to accept that truth, but now in their effort to make Harry and Dumbledore look bad they were dishonoring Cedric's memory.

Sighing, Harry bit back the retort that he often found himself in a position where Hogwarts or the wizarding world at large was against him for one reason or another. Instead he looked over at her as she commented less than fondly on Pansy and the other Slytherin girls.

It was interesting to think a Slytherin thought lowly of Pansy - perhaps the girl wasn't as popular in that house as she liked to believe. Smiling a bit to show he could tell she was different, Harry shrugged a bit and stated, "I imagine what they have to say isn't much different from what Umbridge herself would say. I'm a liar, the Dark Lord isn't back, and Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord - oh, wait, no, that was an accident," He scathed, still outraged by that comment on Umbridge's part.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria nodded. ”Yeah, the same thing bugs me. I mean sure, it’s horrible that she’s trying to take over the school, but she won’t be able to. I’m not worried about that. She needs to be hit with a brick or something. Or run out of the school.” She rolled her eyes at the thought of Umbridge trying to take over the school. She was scared by the thought the foul woman could use the Ministry to get Dumbledore out of the school. She was hoping the Headmaster had thought of this and had some sort of plan. ”No, it’s not right. People are being stupid. I think they’re just afraid that Voldemort is really back. Cedric needs to be remembered. Something has to be done about all this.”

She rolled her eyes again when he talked about Pansy. ”That’s exactly what the say. They’re so bloody annoying. They talk about stupid things and can’t have their own opinion. They have to say and think as the other one does and go by the word of their favorite adults.” She was starting to get mad now. And very annoyed. She picked up a rock and threw it into the lake. It made her feel a bit better. ”If it helps at all, I believe you.” She wasn’t sure how he would take that. She was a Slytherin, so he might not believe anything she says. She wasn’t actually sure if she believed him or not to tell the truth. She did want to make him feel better though. She hated seeing people sad. Which was another reason she would make a horrible Death Eater.

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[harryjamespotter]

Harry snorted softly at that. "I'd feel bad for the brick," he quipped, before shaking his head. "I get that they're afraid. I mean, the war last time was pretty horrible. People are still afraid to speak his name, and until now he'd been dead for thirteen years. However, just because you are afraid of something doesn't mean you can pretend its not there. I mean really, doing so doesn't even make sense. How can you prepare yourself to face it and fight, if you won't even admit that its a threat?"

Harry bit back another sigh after these words, feeling tired of being frustrated all the time. As much as he loved magic, there were a lot of things about the wizarding world he wasn't very fond of.

Listening to Astoria as she complained about Pansy, Harry found himself smiling a bit. It was interesting to see that Pansy from a Slytherin perspective was still...well, Pansy.

"I think its sort of sad they can't think for themselves," He admitted, before stating honestly, "But I find a lot of wizards tend to follow the crowd more often then not. If enough people think one thing, regardless of how absurd it is the rest just sort of follow suit. I mean really. Me, as the Heir of Slytherin? If you actually stop to think about it, that makes about as much sense as Voldemort being the Heir of Gryffindor."

As Astoria's rock caused ripples over the lake, Harry looked at her in surprised gratitude. "Thanks," He said softly, before looking away again. "It means a lot to hear people say that." He paused, then said a little softer, "If there was a way I could just...take the memory out of my head and broadcast it so everyone could see it, I would. Just so they would all shut up and pay attention. We need to be getting ready for a war, not sitting around learning useless theory and pretending evil doesn't exist."

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria gave a little chuckle about him saying he’d feel bad for the brick. She listened to him talk about people being afraid, and she couldn’t help but agree. ”They’re people who run away from their fears rather than confront them. They can’t deal with the fact that He’s back. They don’t want to, so they just ignore it and tell people they’re wrong. In the end though, it’s going to be way worse for them.” She watched as he smiled as she told him about Pansy, and she couldn’t help but smile as well. She was glad she could bring him out of his bad mood, even for a moment. It was at that moment she remembered the plan her, Draco, and Blaise had come up with. She couldn’t let Potter get to her, no matter what. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stop talking to him. No, she would stay and put on fake emotions, and act like she cared about everything he said. She was going to make this work. ”All the girls follow Pansy, who follows Draco, so pretty much the whole house from 5th year down follow Draco. Except me. I can actually think and function for myself.” She gave a proud smile.

She smiled when he thanked her. That part wasn’t a lie, she really did believe him and Dumbledore. She also knew though. Her parents were Death Eaters, but not in the top ones. They were the ones who came when all of them were called, but just did their own thing otherwise. They hadn’t had a mission in quite some time, which Tori was actually rather glad for. It was getting rather tiresome when he parents were always leaving. ”That would probably help you out greatly, but I’m not sure such a thing exists. That is true, we’re going to get crushed if an attack happens. That bloody woman is going to be the cause of many students’ deaths, but the Ministry won’t give two galleons anyways.” She said this last part as she rolled her eyes.

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[harryjamespotter]

Harry nodded in agreement with Astoria's statements. He understood the fear - Voldemort had brought war and horror for so long that the joy of being rid of him had tested the resolve of many wizards' ability to stick to the Ministry's laws about magic before Muggles.

Harry had heard from a few sources about the celebrations made when Voldemort had been defeated, and while he always nodded or grinned in amusement, a part of him wrinkled its nose despite itself. Harry saw no cause for celebration on that night, personally, even if Voldemort had been brought down.

So Harry understood that the thought of Voldemort being back was too abhorrent for most wizards to contemplate, but at the same time that little part of him was wrinkling its nose once again at wizards and their inability to be tactful. Even if you were afraid of something - hell, especially if you were afraid of it - you should still prepare to face it. Negligence only made things like this worse.

Shaking his head a bit, Harry commented wryly, "I really don't understand why the Slytherins have chosen Malfoy and Parkinson as their leaders. I mean, I understand the Malfoy family is wildly rich and they have political connections, but so do a lot of other Slytherin students' families. I'm sure there are more intelligent and less prat-like leaders to turn to."

Using the term 'prat-like' for Malfoy and Parkinson was naturally being complimentary, but Harry didn't wish to use his more colorful terminology on them around Astoria. She may be polite and different from the others, but she was still a Slytherin and it would be rude to revile her housemates right in front of her like that.

Snorting softly, Harry didn't comment that he was used to not having a convenient way to get adults to listen to him. "It really bothers a lot of students that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts, but I'm certain Dumbledore has his eye on things. He may not be able to kick her out due to the politics involved, but I highly doubt he isn't aware of what she's up to." Harry stated calmly, and with absolute certainty.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria scoffed. She knew why the Slytherins followed what Draco and Pansy said. She did it as well. Which was why she was glad she came up with this plan. Something her own. Something she did without their help. Being two years younger, she was finally glad she had something to contribute. She nodded to what he had to say. She was starting to feel genuinely sorry for him. He had a lot going on right now. She would probably go crazy if she had to deal with what he did. Even some of his friends and house mates didn’t believe him. Her housemates didn’t really pay much attention to her. Which was the main reason she really just stuck to herself and actually did her school work. There really wasn’t much else for her to do. She did miss her sister, but this was something she wanted to do.

Looking around, she realized it was getting late. She jogged a little more than usual and finding Harry just made time fly by really. Sitting down and talking to someone was something she hadn’t done in ages. The start of term ball was in the next couple of days and she needed to get her school work done. ”It’s been great talking to you, but I need to get inside. I really love my sleep and have lots of school work I need to get done. I’ll see you around? Maybe at the ball? Bye Harry.” She stood up and gave him a smile. This plan was going to work. She would not fall for him. Though he was kind of cute….Wait, what? Figuring it was really time to go after that though, she gave him a wave and took off jogging, hoping to hear a goodbye as she faded off.

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[harryjamespotter]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background-image: url(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u62/King_Giana/Harry%20Potter/harry_potter_bgbw.jpg); -moz-border-radius: 250px; border-radius: 30px 30px 30px 30px; border: 0px solid #414141] My Cross To Bear Realizing as well that it was getting rather late, Harry rose to his feet shortly after Astoria did and smiled. "It was nice talking to you as well," He told her, meaning every word of it in pure Gryffindor spirit. "I'd best head in soon as well, but I'll see you around for sure," He added, making a mental note to seek her out if need be, just so she would know he meant it. As she wandered off, Harry waved back and called out, "See you at the Ball then!" Not quite thinking it through until after he'd shouted it. Picking up his bag, Harry laughed to himself and almost hoped someone had overheard him and gotten the wrong idea. It would spread so fast his head would spin, and the outrage would finally be about something he could find funny. Imagine, Harry Potter taking a Slytherin to the ball. TAG: CLOSED This thread is over, please archive it!

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