plotted starter. / @independentcho
THE HOUSE WAS FULL OF STRANGE TRINKETS that Astoria did not know the uses of, and so she stirred away from the foreign contraptions, careful not to overstep her welcome. When Daphne told her to run away, the last thing she expected was to find herself in Cho Chang’s apartment -- in Muggle London, no less -- in a state of half panic and half awe. She meant to find her way to the Order, but Astoria Greengrass had never been an official member of the organization, more like an unexpected interloper at the last minute. She didn’t have the golden galleon like they did, and though Ginny Weasley promised her that she would give her one, hell had come upon them all before she found the chance.
VOLDEMORT WON. It seemed like such a surreal set of words, but when Harry Potter vanished during the Battle of Hogwarts, none of them had any other choice but to confront that grim fact. People scrambled to flee in a panic, she and her sister among them, but after defying the Carrows all throughout her fifth year, she could never go back to her family without endangering their lives. And so they crafted the story of her supposed DEATH, and perhaps that was why no one from the Order bothered to look for her at all. Her parents were forced to denounce her, her sister had to pretend she was gone, and meanwhile she spent her time fleeting from one hiding place to the next, hoping her luck would hold.
That same luck was put to serious test last night, and if Cho did not round the corner the exact time she did, Astoria would have been caught. But she wasn’t -- against all odds, she wasn’t, and now she was here, seeking refuge with a former Ravenclaw, the very same who stood before her as she made her way around her home, wide-eyed and wary at the peculiar items she was surrounded by. Astoria pointed at the big box that showed moving pictures. A faint sound was coming off of it, but she couldn’t make the words out. “What is that?” She asked Cho, curiosity lighting up her bright, brown eyes.
“And this, what is this?” This time she pointed at a shiny, metal box. It had two handles, and it looked like some sort of cabinet, only it wasn’t made of wood. “I’m sorry,” Astoria continued, wondering if maybe her questions were a bit much. “I didn’t mean to --- I don’t ---” she paused, exhaled, met Cho’s gaze, and tried again. “Thank you. I know bringing me here must be a risk for you and I want to say -- thank you.” She let her words sit between them for a moment before her brown eyes started darting around again, taking in everything around her, or at least trying to. “Your place is very interesting. I had never been to a muggle flat before.”
