It seems pretty clear that Merula is Astraeus’ mother. So, what is the story of how Astraeus was taken in by the Coppers? Who is the father? What was Astraeus’ birth name? I need the backstory.
This was sent over a year ago I'm so sorry anon KDFBNGKJDF
But yes, you're correct XD
Small change from his original profile:
He was adopted shortly after he was born, which was the September before the Battle of Hogwarts, rather than directly after it.
Astraeus didn't have a birth name, as neither of his bio parents had any sort of attachment to him, much less each other. He was only conceived for the sake of the family legacy. The parents in question? (You're not prepared, maybe)
For more context on Antonious, I have all posts from his tag here. Basically, he's a discount Malfoy with none of the charm, and absolute wimp of a man that loves to say the most out of pocket things thinking his wealth will protect him, and then wonder why people hate his ass.
Merula had been sentenced to life in Azkaban back at the end of Year 6 for committing murder using the Killing Curse. Nearly a shell of her former self, one thing she didn't lose was the resentment she had for her former classmates, especially Reina. There's another reason why her hatred for Reina persisted, but that'll be for another post. Just know that the Snydes lost favor with Voldemort due to a past incident that Merula incited.
The Rust-Thornes weren't held in high regard either, due to their ancestral history of acquiring wealth through deception. Although they were Purebloods, Antonious and his parents only joined for protection. Mrs. Snyde and the Rust-Thornes were so desperate for their bloodlines to continue that they reached an agreement for their respective children to do their part.
In the Snyde Twins AU, Mavis is never brought up due to being disowned years prior for being a Squib. Merula still brought her up as someone to deal with Antonious, but her mother immediately shut it down.
Antonious and Merula deeply hated each other. Merula saw him as incredibly pathetic, whiny, and cowardly. Antonious saw her as catty, ugly, and beneath him. The one thing they had in common was that neither of them had enough of a spine to say no to their respective parents. They were given a month to find a suitable Pureblood partner of their preference, but no one wanted to go near them. The two had no choice but to carry out their families' wishes.
Merula had no maternal connection or emotional attachment to her unborn child throughout her pregnancy. The only upside for her was that the Demons tormenting her left her alone, as she was carrying an innocent Soul, and that's a line they didn't cross.
At the height of Voldemort's return, both Ben and Ismelda went undercover as Death Eaters. Ben himself simply used a disguise through Glamour Magic. Merula and Ismelda found themselves being civil enough with each other that Merula trusted Ismelda to vent about her arranged union.
After a serious conversation, it was agreed that Ismelda would secretly take the child in once he was born. Ismelda had her twins in June of 1997, while Merula delivered her son that following September and immediately handed him over to the former. Her mother and Antonious' parents were killed on a mission some weeks prior, so she lied to Antonious, claiming to have suffered a miscarriage.
They both saw this as a blessing, as it meant they didn't have to deal with each other anymore. The two of them would meet their demise at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Since Ben and Ismelda planned to name their twins Artemis and Apollo, with the inclusion of their now-adopted third child, they named the baby Astraeus. His birthdate was changed to that of his new siblings to throw off any potential suspicion.
After the battle, Ben and Ismelda would move on and raise their three children. From a very young age, Astraeus never liked his eyes for reasons he didn't understand. Although Merula had always used Colovaria to change her eye color to the signature violet, Astraeus would inherit it as a natural color.
Once he was old enough, his folks told him about his true heritage. Understanding who his biological parents were, Astraeus saw the Coppers as his one true family, and they, in return, always loved him all the same.
He eventually gets over the dislike of his eyes once he reaches adulthood, growing to accept them as part of who he is, but not what defines him.
In the Snyde Twins AU, he adored his aunt Mavis from day 1 and the two are practically best friends. He'd learn more about their family from her perspective.
Reina's encounter with Mr. Antonious Rust-Thorne back in her First Year. Bonus Ben and Jae sighting in the last page.
Started off as loose drawings in my sketchbook that I spliced together to resemble comic pages. I did my best to make it as coherent as possible since I'm still very outta practice. Can you tell I've been messing with Clip Studio a lot here?
I chose not to add anymore pages as I felt these got the point across well enough. After their little "chat", Reina threatened him to stay away from her for as long as she was there. She was meant to say a bit more to him, but I think that even with her emotional maturity, she's still only 11 and would have a hard time finding the right words especially after getting so emotional.
While she never met Duncan or Olivia, Ricardo told her a lot about them every time he visited during the holidays, even going as far as sharing photos with her. Poor thing got a ton of emotional whiplash and needed to lay down for a little while afterward.
While working on these, there's a sudden plot hiccup I had completely overlooked:
Dumbledore is well-acquainted with Reina's family, yet for Ricardo's expulsion and disappearance to take them all by surprise, it means he never bothered telling them...lol Which I guess would be in character for him, but I'm here now trying to give him a reason for why he never told them. Enough rambling. I lost track of how long I've been working on these.
Silly thing featuring the 1970s Trio and their own Slytherin nuisance: Antonious Rust-Thorne
More info about the discount Malfoy here
No, it's not an act. Yes, he gets worse as he gets older. Pray for Duncan. And yes, Ricardo is supposed to look utterly dead inside as he's still early in his depression arc.
Does Reina ever encounter Rust thorne? What career does he have as an adult?
Unfortunately lol He sought her out early in her First Year to establish connections with her family. He was in his Sixth Year at this time. She was already put off by the lousy aura he gave off and immediately disliked him even more just by speaking. Thanks to his habit of not knowing when to shut the hell up, he exposed himself as the reason public opinion turned on Ricardo after his expulsion. Rusty and his parents paid off some significant people to spread lies as much as possible.
"You'd be amazed at the things you're capable of with the right amount of wealth."
Needless to say, but Reina was tremendously upset and pissed off and threatened him to never talk to her again. Currently lining out a 4-page comic of this encounter.
Adulthood
Age: 21
After graduating, he went into the long-standing family tradition / business practices of scamming people out of their money.
His fashion sense is just as atrocious as his personality, but in his eyes his style is impeccable.
Still a massive asshole flaunting off his wealth. Greedy AF.
Keeps saying the most out of pocket things to get back at people, yet gets shocked when they retaliate against him.
Very punchable face. The smirk is a family trait with a 50/50 chance of it being charming or repulsive.
Somehow landed a job at the Ministry's Accounting Department but never specifies the work he's meant to do there.
Becomes a nuisance to Ricardo after the latter starts his job at another department.
Thinks Umbridge is a valuable ally, unaware she can't stand him.
Got banned from Reina's bakery in 1995 after he tried scamming one of her elderly customers.
All of his past 3 fiancees have called off their engagement because they can't stand his personality. He called off 3 of his own for the most minor inconvenience.
His parents are worried about their bloodline as he's their only child, yet fail to realize this is their karma for enabling him to turn out the way he did.
I like to think that for every Hogwarts Trio there was that one nuisance Slytherin student they had to deal with. In Ricardo's generation, that role was filled by Antonious Rust-Thorne, a pompous brat with a massive ego. A vast majority of the family think they're part of the most prestigious and elite, but in truth many people don't respect them because the Rust-Thornes are nothing more than snake-oil salesmen with delusions of grandeur.
Being raised in the Muggle world, Ricardo never heard of him before. He was way too tired in their initial encounter and therefore had no energy to deal with such nonsense. Duncan gave him more context later on. Antonious is all bark and no bite, and only got more obnoxious as he got older.
Antonious and Draco arent really too far apart in terms of personality I think. Draco definitely said some awful things that led to him getting asskickings of his own.
The comparisons will be with canon!Draco rather than my au!Draco. I'm going off my memory of canon here so certain details may not be entirely accurate. I don't care for the Cursed Child canon either, so that won't be referenced here.
True. In their earlier years the two were much more alike, but their paths began to divert as they got older. Both were products of their respective environments, and with age they'd go on to make choices that would affect their futures.
Draco got hit with a harsh reality check before/during the events of Half-Blood Prince. For most of his life he was told all about the importance of Blood Purity and had a very idealized view of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He thought he wanted to be a Death Eater himself until he saw what it truly entailed.
Seeing all the suffering and death firsthand is not something he wanted to be involved in, but he wasn't in a position to leave for a while. In the time skip at the end, the subtle nod exchanged between him and Harry imply that while they're not friends, there's no animosity either, which I interpreted as Draco no longer sharing the hateful views he once had.
Much of the Rust-Thorne family only formed whatever opinions would give them the best benefits. By Antonious' time, that meant aligning with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, openly embracing Blood Purity views and whatnot. Yes, his parents are to blame for how he turned out, but that only holds so much weight once you're an adult.
Antonious never learned from whatever reality checks he got. He only got worse as he got older, leading to him becoming insufferable as an adult. From Ricardo's perspective after being freed from the painting, all Antonious did was age physically. Slight spoilers, but Antonious joins the Death Eaters out of cowardice following Dumbledore's murder.
He got it in his head that it would guarantee his safety, when in truth he and his family were never in any danger. If anything, no one really expected him to join regardless of what a hateful little fuck he's been most of his life. He thought he had the perfect safety net but it didn't even guarantee his survival.
