of the stars

♕ ----- Astoria chuckled as she followed her granddaughter further into the home as Ilsa went looking for her friend. Astoria leaned against the frame of the entryway to the kitchen and smiled when she looked over at her friend. “I don’t think Ilsa will remember, but thank you for letting her stay over with Iris tonight,” she said with a shake of her head. “How are you doing?”

“If we can get through this night without drama for once, I think it’ll be a miracle,” she huffed, lifting the train of her dress a bit as she walked. Cassie let out a breath, realizing her misstep. “I feel like I just jinxed it.”

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♕ ---- Astoria glanced over at her daughter sympathetically before she reached for two flute glasses and held the other out to Cassie. “You’re grandmother planned a wonderful party, can’t always be worried something is going to happen.”

“I’m good,” he replied with a smile, pushing himself off the wall to follow her and pointedly ignoring the remark about his sudden presence in the shop. “You? I saw your husband came back to the hospital.”

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♕ ---- Astoria adjusted one of the pots on display before she turned to fully face him. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said politely before she nodded at his next statement. “I’m happy for him. It’s been a rough few years,” she said not wanting to dwell on Draco’s time away, “and with a new grandchild, honestly, things are quite well. I take it that you’re still working in the Emergencies ward.”

He snorted and walked around her so he came into view. “Fine. Hi.” Magnus smirked. “I wasn’t lurking, darling. I saw you walk in here. But damn,” he leaned back against the wall. “Don’t look so happy to see me.”

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♕ ---- Astoria lifted her gaze and looked up at him with amusement, “hello, Mack.” She then chuckled and carefully took off her work gloves. “Would stalking be a better descriptor for you because I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. But no, this is a nice enough surprise. How are you?”

♕ ---- “I can feel you lurking, Mack, you might as well just say hello,” Astoria said as she put out the last of of her plants on display in the shop before she looked behind her. “You know, your cologne gives you away every time.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure about it. I have a good judgement on these kinds of things.” He looked down at her with a smile, letting her walk out of the elevator before him. He laughed, “Not this one. Her attention span is horrible. Or she’s too busy trying to morph herself to match said plants.”

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♕ ---- Astoria simply nodded knowing that she would trust his judgment over others. She held out her hand for him to take so she could apparate them where they needed to go. “I certainly hope you mean green hair,” she said as she looked up at him with a chuckle.

“Stori, I was kidding.” He lightly bumped her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It’s been quiet in a good way. Not in a quiet in a because there’s impending doom way.” Harry laughed and leaned back against the wall of the elevator. “Stop it. There are no plant rides. I have been dragged around enough amusement parks by a seven year old to know there are no plant rides. Drunk ass teacups? Maybe.” He smirked, shaking his head. “I’m on a mission to find a plant-themed ride now.”

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♕ ---- Astoria playfully bumped her shoulder back against his. “I hope so. We’re magical folk, Harry, we gotta be careful about jinxing things.” She chuckled as she stepped out of the elevator once it reached the lobby floor. “Are you sure about that, I’m not sure a seven year old would know where to find the amusement park that has all the plant rides,” she smirked. “Once you do, you’ll have to tell me.”

“See? That’s what I’m worried about. It’s been too quiet. I’m waiting for something to explode.” Harry walked out with her, handing some paperwork to his secretary with a smile, letting her know he’d be out the rest of the afternoon. “I mean, I figured that’s what it was.,” he smirked and followed Astoria to the lift. “My second guess was a carnival with plant-shaped rides.”

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♕ ---- Astoria’s mouth tipped down in a small frown at his words. She didn’t want to dwell on it too much and simply hoped that it was only just Harry’s worrying mind. “You wait long enough, it happens either way,” she murmured and waited for him to join her at the lift before she pressed the button to go down. “See, the one with the plant shaped rides is only for the real plant enthusiasts. I’m only a part time herbologist, a hobbiest at best. I do believe your friend, Longbottom, gets the joys of plant rides.” And she smirked as she stepped into the elevator, playing wrinkling her nose as she turned back to him.

“Always,” he winked at her, simultaneously raising the cone to his lips. “I think Jasper has everything under control. He knows how to reach me if he doesn’t. It’s been pretty dead today anyway.” Harry slid his wand into the pocket of his suit jacket and reached over with his now free hand to open the door for them. “I can honestly say I’ve never been to a plant fair.”

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♕ ----  Astoria smiled. “It being dead is a good thing right? Nothing crazy is happening,” she said as she took a quick lick of her own ice cream cone. She took a step out of his office and ran her thumb over her lower lip before she chuckled. “Well, then, I’m going to apologize in advance. It’s just a lot of people obsessing over plants, and foragiing. Myself included.”

Harry glanced up when he heard her voice, snorting when he saw the ice cream cone she’d brought in. “Mm, I don’t know. That is pretty convincing payment.” He hummed, thoughtfully, and took it from her. Harry looked at her for a moment - he really could leave. “Why not?” He smirked, “I need an excuse to get out of here anyway.”

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♕ ---- Astoria smiled more and she stepped towards him as she held out the ice cream for him to take. “I knew I could count on you,” she said with a chuckle. “I promise it won’t be too boring,” she added. “Though, it has to be better than whatever is going on in the office.” And she nodded to the door behind her.

♕ ---- “Would an ice cream convince you to skip work,” Astoria asked her friend as she held up the second cone that she had brought with her. “There’s a plant fair, and I don’t want to go alone so I’ve come to bribe you to be my victim,” she added before she flashed him her best grin.

“At least it’s just her hair,” he breathed, as his gaze fell on the girls walking ahead of them, hand-in-hand. Harry snorted, turning back to Astoria. “Easy for you to say. Last time we did something like this, I spent the entire afternoon obliviating muggles because she turned herself into some weird monkey-human hybrid and scarred everyone. Trust me. It’s not going to do anything if we avoid it. That kid’ll do whatever she wants.” He rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head. “But at least  your granddaughter is a good influence on her when they’re together.”

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♕ ---- Astoria let out a soft snort and glanced back at Harry. “That’s true, but I’ve dealt with accidental magic in front of muggles before.” She took a bit of candy floss that she had been holding for Ilsa and shrugged her shoulders. “She’s a year older now, maybe the point of muggles really can’t see use doing magic or it will cause a big mess will sink in a little more and make sense. She’s only a few more years away from getting her letter from Hogwarts, no?” She then let out a snort. “Ilsa is a darling, I am proud of that.”

Cassie continued to pout, leaning into her mother’s touch. She sighed, knowing deep down that she was right. “I know,” she finally admitted, letting out another breath. “This one’s just been so different than Ilsa. You’d think it’d be easier since I have Hugo.” She looked down at Lucien for a moment, hand running through his tiny blond curls. “Thank you for the constant reassurance, though. I need it.” She looked back up at her mother, expression softening. “How have you been feeling?”

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♕ ---- “I wish I could say the constant fretting goes away,” Astoria hummed. “But I can honestly say, that it usually means you’re doing a good job.” She gave her daughter another smile before she reached over to pick up her own cup of tea. “I’ve been well,” she replied with a small shrug. “Having the new grandson around to spoil has been helping.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” he said to his granddaughter in a stern voice as he walked back over to where the girls were leaving over the fence of the flamingo exhibit. “I’m serious.” Harry turned to give Astoria the ice water he’d went to get her from the concession stand, looking back a second later to see Iris’s hair was slowly turning a vibrant pink. “Iris Nymphadora Potter.” She beamed at him and he glanced around to make sure no muggles had seen her, settling on glaring at her when he saw that, thankfully, they hadn’t. “Strike one, princess. If swear to Merlin, if I see a beak or a feather, you’re done.” Their granddaughters eventually got bored of the birds and skipped ahead to the next animal, leaving Harry trail behind, wondering why they thought a zoo day was a good idea. “She’s going to be a monkey in a minute. I can feel it.” / @dxsiderum​​

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♕ ---- Astoria graciously accepted her water before she took a sip and watched as Harry interacted with his granddaughter. She did all that she could to keep herself from chuckling when Iris defiantly turned her hair pink in broad daylight. The girls went on ahead of them and Astoria strolled along side Harry as she finally allowed herself to laugh at his words. “Can’t be too mad at her,” she said before she took another sip of her water. “There’s hardly anyone here at least,” she pointed out as she looked around them. “We’re just avoid the monkey exhibit if that’ll help.”

“He does,” she countered with a pout, knowing a vast majority of all of this was her hormones, stress, and lack of sleep talking. Still, she felt awful. Cassie leaned her head on her mother, looking down at Lucien who appeared to have picked up on her mood change, since he was staring up at her with big, wide, blue eyes. She let out a breath and sat up, bringing him up to rest snugger against her chest. “I just feel like I’m doing something wrong. I never questioned myself with Ilsa.”

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♕ ---- “He does not,” Astoria murmured once more in Cass’ curls before she gently pulled back and looked down at her new grandchild, who seemed to be calming down. “Every child is going to be different and he’s just learning about this new world he’s in,” she continued as she sat down beside Cass. “You’re not doing anything wrong, I promise, my love.”