Then They Do, And That's How It Is ** (FLINTS)

[Deleted]

@dusti , @rosaria , @river
OOC: Anyone can post first, but if we can keep the posting order the same after that would be great <3
<3

January 5th, 2024. A day that many had been waiting to come, yet one that unfortunately for a group of four siblings, would most likely be one of the hardest days of their lives. And Astoria Malfoy was the one that was going to have to break the news to them. She knew them all fairly well, especially the three that had been in her house. The eldest, while not at Hogwarts anymore, was still in her thoughts, and Astoria was trying her hardest to figure out how to say this, how to tell these children that not only one, but both of their parents were dead.

Astoria had sent out owls to all three of them; Rosaria, Dusti, and River. To come to her office after breakfast, and only bring themselves. She had been sitting in her chair since she had woken up, looking down at her hands, just thinking. This wasn't something she's ever had to do before, and while she felt glad that Neville trusted her with such a duty, Astoria's own motherly instincts were kicking in and she was already thinking of ways to help these children. Her eyes looked up at the clock, awaiting the knock on the door.

[Deleted]

@jill
(Weeeeeell, just us now! How about we say that Dusti doesn't know about her father yet? So Astoria can tell her about both? And maybe that she's talking to each kid individually.)

Dusti didn't know why she was being called to Professor Malfoy's office. If it was about her and Albus again though, she better be prepared for a strong refusal to listen. Dusti wasn't going to change her activities with her boyfriend just because a teacher decided she didn't want to deal with the fact that her own son was old enough to be thinking about that sort of thing. Dusti had gotten the invitation the night before, and at breakfast she'd told Albus that she'd have to catch up to him in class because she needed to meet with their head of house.

Not exactly in a good mood, but not in a bad one either, Dusti headed down to the Dungeons where the Professor's office was and knocked on the door, announcing her presence, before pushing the door open and stepping inside. "You wanted to see me?"

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

The gentle knock on the door made Astoria jump, and she shook her head slightly to get herself back into the mental state of a Professor, and not a mother. Blinking a few times, she watched the door open and saw Dusti step in. Astoria forced a smile to her student and nodded. "Yes, I did." Astoria stood up and walked over to her, gently touching her shoulder. "Come sit, please." Astoria turned to shut the door and closed her eyes for only a second to take in a deep breath, and walked back over to her desk to sit. "Are you hungry, Dusti? Or thirsty?"

[Deleted]

@jill

Dusti couldn't be in trouble, she hadn't done anything this week to warrant detention. In fact, she'd been practically on her best behavior the week after Christmas. Because she'd finally admitted everything to Albus and... well it was nice not having such huge secrets with him. It'd been like a weight off her shoulders. So being called in like this.... Well, Dusti had no idea what to expect.

Being asked to sit down wasn't surprising. That request Dusti followed immediately and silently. The touch on the shoulder... was slightly worrisome but Dusti chose to ignore it. It didn't raise her suspicions much though. No, that was the question of if she was hungry or thirsty. Had Professor Malfoy forgotten that it was just after breakfast? What would make her forget that...? "No, I had something at breakfast." she answered slowly as she folded her arms across her chest. "What's going on, Professor?" she demanded, trying to cut right to the chase. Of what was going on and why meeting this morning had been so urgent.

@jill

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

Dusti's urgency in asking her what was going on made Astoria smile sadly at the girl. This was going to be the hardest thing Astoria had ever done, and one of the first things she'd be doing as the new Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. But she knew she was strong enough to do it. What she wasn't sure about, was that whatever Dusti's reaction was, Astoria didn't know if she was strong enough to stay calm. Instead of sitting back down in her chair, Astoria rested against her desk, clasping her hands together as she looked at Dusti Flint, empathy in her eyes. "Dusti..." She just had to get it over with, don't step over thoughts. "Your father has been murdered."

[Deleted]

@jill

This whole thing. It could be any number of reasons. Raleigh. Her sister. Her brother. Maybe her father had gotten some promotion and he'd used some connections to have Hogwarts tell her. Hey, maybe if she was lucky her parents had finally officially disownered her and this was their way of notifying her.

She wasn't in a million years expecting the next words to leave her Professor's mouth. Her father had been murdered.

Dusti went deathly pale and she felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. "What?" Her father. Marcus Flint. Murdered. Dead. "How? Who?" Who'd killed him. How had he been murdered. Why would he be murdered? Sure, Dusti herself held no love for her father. But most people found him.... tolerable. He acted quite differently when he wasn't around his family.

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

Astoria couldn't imagine what was going through this young girl's mind. Whether or not it was about her siblings or her parents, and Astoria had to be the one to put this in her brain. She had to be the one to break the terrible news, and try to comfort the one girl she'd been trying to comfort all year. Astoria swallowed after she spoke, her eyes frantically searching Dusti's.

The color in her cheeks disappeared, and the single word that left her mouth had Astoria shutting her eyes and shaking her head. Then two more words, and Astoria licked her lips, moving closer to Dusti. She opened her mouth to speak, and shut it. If possible this part was even worse. Tori looked the girl directly in the eyes, concern surging through her. "Your...your mother killed him."

[Deleted]

"Your mother killed him."

There was a moment after those words where Dusti forgot how to breath. Where her head spun and all time stopped. Her mother. A woman who Dusti had constantly accused of being insane and psychotic. Her mother had murdered her father.. Not her biological father. The father that had raised her. Both were terrible, terrible people. But she'd have chosen Marcus Flint over Pansy any day, no hesitation.

After that terrible breathless moment, time resumed. "Is she in Azkaban?" Dusti asked, forcing herself to swallow the building emotions. She could handle it. She could keep those emotions silent and under control. She could keep up her icy front. She had to hide the growing cracks in her life. Had to hide the fact that it was threatening to shatter on her again.

@jill

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

Astoria stared at Dusti, trying to find inside her soul. Trying to find how she was feeling, if she was processing her words and her own emotions, or if she was just thinking. Thinking about anything, how it happened, when it happened, where it happened. But she couldn't find anything. The blonde girl was doing well at hiding her emotions unfortunately, and it took everything in Astoria's power to just not hug her right then and there and ask her how she was feeling. The girl no longer had a father, nor a mother, and Astoria wasn't sure even she'd be able to deal with that at such a young age.

The question that Dusti asked was not the first thing Astoria thought she would've asked. If anything, that shocked her. Astoria blinked, and took a deep breath. "She was in Azkaban, yes." The older woman shut her eyes and slowly breathed in through her nose. This was the worst possible thing for her to have to do, and she was concerned for Dusti as well as the other siblings. "She died, Dusti."

[Deleted]

Was.

Died.

Dusti didn't forget how to breath this time. The breath was knocked out of her. Sucked out of her actually, and there was a moment where she tried, desperately tried, to draw breath but nothing happened. No oxygen was drawn in through her slightly gaped mouth. Father was murdered. Mother died in Azkaban. Both her parents were gone. Dead. She hated them, both of them. But that didn't change the fact that they were her parents and they were now dead. And Dusti didn't know how she should feel but right now she felt numb. Ice cold numb, as if she'd been dunked in freezing water until she'd lost all feeling. "Oh." Her mind had stopped working at this point.

@jill

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

This poor girl's reaction was completely expected. Astoria didn't think anything else would've happened, other than complete shock, mixed with anger or sadness. While Dusti was doing a good job at hiding any other emotion felt, the Deputy Headmaster knew immediately that she was in shock. And all Astoria could do was sit there with the Slytherin, and try to get her to talk, or try to comfort her. It most likely would not work, but she had to try something. Astoria pulled up another chair and brought it closer to Dusti and sat down in it, facing the blonde. Motherly instincts took over and Astoria's hand was on top of Dusti's. "Dusti, do you have any questions?" Astoria normally would say she was sorry, but that wouldn't help - she also wasn't completely positive Dusti was even sorry for her own loss.

[Deleted]

It felt as if time itself had frozen, the whole world slowing and her ears deafening as her mind reeled. Trying desperately to process this information. What did that mean for her and her siblings? Raleigh was already out on his own so he was fine. But that meant that the other three.... What would happen? Raleigh wasn't old enough to take guardianship of River. The twins wouldn't have a home to go back to (though the Flint manor had never felt like home to her.). No one would never make her parents pay for what they'd done to the Flint children growing up. No one would never know the horrors they'd endured...

The sound of a chair scrapping on the floor was what finally ripped Dusti from her thoughts, her eyes growing wide just a moment as she looked back up at her head of house. The mother of her boyfriend's best friend. The woman who had caught Dusti and Albus sneaking out of a broom closet. A woman that Dusti had known her entire life simply because of her father's connections. But despite having known Astoria Malfoy for seventeen years that didn't mean Dusti trusted her. Dusti didn't trust easily, and especially not adults her parents age.

Despite her unwavering distrust in the woman Dusti didn't pull away when Professor Malfoy rested a hand on her own. The contact wasn't exactly comfortable, but Dusti had never been a fan of physical contact with most people (simply because years of abuse had made her question whether the contact was made in innocence or to inflict harm.) but she hid her discomfort well when she saw it coming. Like now. Her eyes only hardened for a moment, not quite revealing how she felt. "No." she slowly answered, though it was a partial lie. She had many questions. She just simply couldn't form them into words quite yet.

@jill
(haha, Astoria technically isn't her head of house anymore, but this thread is before the change. Also, end on yours or my next post?)

[Deleted]

@dusti
<3

Dusti didn't speak for awhile.
Astoria wanted to make sure the girl had enough time to process what was happening. The older Slytherin knew that had she been in this position when she was Dusti's age, she would have the same reaction. If not a bit different; Astoria loved her parents, no matter how much she disagreed with their beliefs. The other difference is her parents never abused her, so having parents she actually loved was enough to completely change the two situations.

There wasn't much movement from Dusti as Astoria stood up and walked over to her. She knew the girl would need a motherly figure in her life, unless she already had one. And that is exactly what Astoria tried to do as much as she could, especially for her students in her house. A lot of people despised the Slytherins, but being one herself, she had a soft spot for them. Too many of the children had demons in their backyards, in their own homes, and Astoria knew all too well what that was like.
To see Dusti's eyes widen made Astoria a bit nervous, but she continued anyways. "If you ever need anything, you know where I am, Dusti. I care about you, and I want you to be okay."