The Extra Professor

Unusually punctual, Asteria arrived at Draco’s door for six o’clock as instructed. Standing in the open doorway, she watched him reading for a moment. He looked strangely frustrated, almost as though there was some injustice being made that he couldn’t stop. Slightly nervous after seeing his anger in the flying lesson earlier that day, she spoke softly but retained a smile.

“I’m here, sir.”

Draco looked up from the thick file he had been reading and a trace of a smile appeared for a fraction of a second. “Asteria, you remembered.”

She lost her smile at the thought of remembering. “I remembered a lot of things Professor.” Draco noticed the sudden change in her tone. The worry he felt was quite peculiar. Before he could ask anything, she continued. “It was brave of you to catch that boy this morning – I was watching, you see.”

“It’s my job.” Malfoy stated simply, not feeling like he deserved any praise. “It’s what I’m here for.”

There was a momentary pause before Asteria carried on. “I was rubbish at flying too. That’s the only subject I’ve failed at.” The statement deserved to be filled with pride but was infected with bitterness.

“I could teach you.” Draco offered without thought. Seeing the odd, curious look on her face, he expanded his suggestion. “That is, if you want me to teach you.”

Her odd expression turned into a smile as she accepted the offer. Asteria knew that this Professor Malfoy wasn’t the same as the Malfoy she’d seen when he was in school. Silence absorbed the room after that, neither of the pair knowing what to say next. Draco was surprised to find the silence comfortable, every silence at his house was painfully piercing.

“Do you remember your girlfriend from when you were a student?” Asteria asked unexpectedly.

Draco replied cautiously, unsure of where the conversation might lead. “Pansy Parkinson, yes.”

“Do you still see her?” She paused only long enough to ascertain that Draco had indeed shaken his head. “I do. She visits my sister often.” Malfoy made to interrupt, uncomfortable with the topic, but she continued regardless. “Can you remember what she used to do to first-years?”

A light thud sounded as Draco dropped his quill. He remembered vividly some of the evil acts they had done as Slytherin prefects. “She was my first bully,” Asteria announced, “and do you know the reason she bullied people?” Draco daren’t look up at her. Anger inflected her voice instead of tears. “To impress a boy.”

“Me.” Draco whispered weakly.

Asteria ignored him entirely. She wanted the whole issue off her chest. “That boy did nothing to stop her.” Malfoy could tell that she was only laying into him like this because she wanted him to apologise for his behaviour. He didn’t care how many accusations she threw at him; he deserved all of them. “That boy haunted my living nightmares and yet, with one action not even committed for me, I forgave him.”

Shocked, Draco looked up. No one had ever forgiven him that easily. He could not call to mind a single occasion when he’d protected anyone from a bully. It didn’t sound like an action he would have willingly made.

A smile broke out across her face. “It was just one moment. You were so angry at Parkinson you yelled at her to stop.”

“I’m glad I did something right that year.” The comment came from Draco’s mouth without his brain thinking it through.

“Yes, that was a rather bad year for you,” she remarked. “I believe it ended in prearranged murder.” The sudden change in her teacher’s expression told her that, once again, she had overstepped the mark. “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t think.”

“That much was clear.” Malfoy’s voice was cold again; his happiness drained as thoroughly as it would have been if dementors had appeared. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, longing for her to leave so he could drop the shield. “I see you have a detention with Professor Sinestra on Saturday. Do you want to talk about that?”

This cold, cynical Malfoy scared Asteria. All ease she had found talking to him had vanished when she’d made that stupid comment. She shook her head, wishing to leave as soon as she could.

“Very well Asteria. I expect to see you here at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon.” Her brow furrowed, the detention was with Sinestra not Malfoy. “ All punishments go through me now.”

Asteria left the session feeling much worse than she had when she’d arrived. Professor Malfoy’s cold manner had surprised her. Even with that terrible year, she thought he would have been past the pain by now. It was clear to her that the pain, though masked under a façade of lies, was still as fresh as the day the events had occurred.

Behind the closed door, Draco broke down. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his emotional defences up when he was constantly seeing reminders of what he’d done. He was beginning to wonder if returning had been such a wise idea after all.