Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J. K. Rowling.

A/N 1: "My" Astoria was fully-formed in my head long before I saw Deathly Hallows Part 2, so she'll always be a blue-eyed, blonde, former Ravenclaw to me :)

Also, I haven't written fanfiction in what feels like forever, so I'm very nervous about this.

Astoria Greengrass, a Third Year Ravenclaw, marched furiously out the door of the Castle, making her way to the school grounds to find something on which she could vent her frustrations.

It was always about Daphne! Everything was about Daphne!

"Your sister is so pretty. Your sister is so funny. Your sister is so outgoing. Your sister is so witty. Your sister is so elegant. Your sister is –"

Blah, blah, blah!

At least her best friends saw the older blonde for what she was, but still their comments "Your sister is so scary!" and "Your sister is so mean!" didn't really help.

Daphne had gone to the Yule Ball last year with Theodore Nott but she had been asked by several boys, and some had even fought amongst themselves for a chance to be her date that night, all while Astoria sulked in the dormitory with her fellow Ravenclaws who had been too young to attend, all of them pretending they had way too much to study to go to a 'silly' ball anyway.

Daphne had beautiful, naturally wavy blonde hair that could be styled any way she wanted, unlike the horribly straight, can't-do-anything-with-it, boring mop of blonde on Astoria's head. Daphne had gorgeous, cat-like sea-green eyes that enchanted even the most reluctant Gryffindor boy, unlike Astoria's dull blue ones. At 15, Daphne already had a very feminine figure, unlike Astoria who was desperate for puberty to kick in and make her grow taller and curvier. Daphne had made it as a reserve Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team, while Astoria had tried out for the Ravenclaw team and failed miserably to be a part of it.

The only thing at which Astoria was better than her sister was schoolwork, but even then her teachers would sometimes refer to Daphne when addressing her and her own mother (a former Slytherin and an exact replica of Daphne when it came to looks and personality) would say, "Oh, you're a Ravenclaw, of course you get excellent marks, all Ravenclaws are top students!"

It was just infuriating!

She was so tired of just being known as Daphne's sister, as the youngest Greengrass, as the second best Greengrass sister. Couldn't anyone just see her as Astoria and value her for herself?

Fighting angry tears, she approached the Lake and grabbed a rock, throwing it into the water with all the strength she possessed. A second rock followed, then a third and a fourth. She had a fifth rock in her hand when she heard a snide male voice coming from somewhere nearby.

"Trying to wake up the Squid?"

Blushing a deep crimson at being caught doing something so unladylike, she glanced around and found a boy half-hidden behind a tree. She immediately dropped the rock and wiped her hand on her skirt, leaving a dirty stain that she unsuccessfully tried to clean off. Flustered, she finally remembered to use her wand and with a muttered "Scourgify" made the stain go away.

Curious about who would spend such a cold day by the Lake, she moved closer and peered around the tree, seeing one of Daphne's housemates, the infamous Draco Malfoy.

Infamous because he had once again failed to catch the Snitch before Harry Potter during the game yesterday, though he looked rather well-composed for someone who had been attacked by both the Gryffindor Seeker and one of the Weasley twins when the game ended. What had that been about, anyway? What on Earth had he said or done to incite such violence? Had he been the one to write that cruel song about Ron Weasley? But the other Slytherins were the ones singing it, why was he specifically the target of the Gryffindors' rage? Could it be that there was someone with a more vicious tongue than her sister? Was that even possible?

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a neutral tone. Her parents had raised her to be polite, after all.

He sneered in response. "That doesn't concern you. Now go away."

Astoria's eyes widened at his rudeness. She had heard stories, of course, but she had never imagined him to be quite such an obnoxious prat! Having had her share of dragon dung for today, she decided to stay and annoy him so someone else would feel as insignificant as she did at the moment.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and plopped herself down on the grass, next to the grumpy Slytherin. Ignoring the indignant look on his face, she said in a tone laden with faux-innocence, "So… your team lost. Again."

His expression was… not what she had expected. He actually seemed sort of defeated. Feeling a little guilty (yet another thing that made her different from Daphne, the queen of venom), she gently offered, "You're the second best Seeker, you know."

Draco snorted and his mouth twisted into a grimace. "Yes, second best."

At that, Astoria eyed him carefully as the wheels in her head turned. Did he know what this awful sense of inferiority felt like? Did he feel as rotten as she did over someone who continually bested them at everything? Did he… understand?

"My father says never to compare yourself to others, because there's no one else out there like you," she said, smiling at the thought of her father, one of the few people who didn't favour Daphne over her. Yes, Mr. Greengrass loved his daughters equally as any father should, but as a sensible ex-Ravenclaw, he secretly felt a bit more affection for his youngest daughter.

"Yes, thank you for that priceless piece of pseudo-wisdom," snarked Draco, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You don't have to be so sarcastic," she replied, feeling offended. "Just so you know, you're not the only one who feels like that."

The Slytherin Prefect raised curious grey eyes up to meet hers but said nothing. He was doubtful this annoying girl had any idea what it was like to be him. It wasn't just that he was the second best Seeker after Potter, it was also that Potter was more famous and more popular, had more friends, had three-quarters of the school fawning over him, had practically all of the teachers on his side (at least Professor Snape and lately Professor Umbridge had more common sense than to bow down to that spectacled slug). He would never, ever forget how humiliating it had been to witness Potter refuse his offer of friendship and choose a Weasley as his best friend, a Weasley of all people!

His parents had been appalled when he had written to them about that; when they had heard that Harry Potter was going to attend Hogwarts and be in the same year as their son, they had promptly advised Draco to talk to him and be his friend because it would be very good for their image to have such a famous person be associated with them, as the Dark Lord had been long gone. How people would envy them! How Harry Potter himself would feel so lucky to have been chosen by them! How this connection would prove they were the best wizarding family! They had honestly believed that their name would be enough to entice Harry Potter, and after that insulting slap to the face Lucius Malfoy's words had been very clear: "Draco, you will show him our superiority." It later became a question of not only one-upping Potter for rejecting them, but also to please the recently-returned Dark Lord.

Draco had tried. He really had. But that stupid Potter just kept besting him at everything! Even the joy he had felt to have been chosen as Slytherin Prefect while Potter did not receive the same honour was crushed when he found out that both Weasley and Granger, Potter's disgusting best friends, had been chosen as Gryffindor Prefects instead! When he thought about it, the only thing at which he was clearly better than Potter was Potions class, but how important was that in the grand scheme of things?

Why, just last week he'd caught a First Year Slytherin girl making googly-eyes at Scarhead, and he'd never felt so tempted to hex someone from his own House before. As far as he knew, he'd never seen any girl besides Pansy make that ridiculous, love-struck face at him.

He was sick and tired of always being second best to Harry Potter. His father had always told him that Malfoys were better than everyone else and it just confused and frustrated him to have his worldview challenged in such a way. Inferiority was not something a Malfoy was supposed to feel!

And of course that stupid Potter had to attack him yesterday like a deranged Muggle, punching him in the stomach and jaw so hard that he didn't even feel the punches from one of those awful Weasley twins. Or had it been both twins? At some point as he lay on the ground in pain and bleeding profusely from his nose he started seeing double, so he's not sure. His plan had been to provoke the Gryffindors until they either walked away in anger or one of them raised his wand against him, making a teacher give them detention. How could he have anticipated that sort of crazy reaction?! Yet another thing Potter succeeded at; Draco had absolutely no idea how to fight with his fists, all he knew was how to use a wand and duel. At least Madame Pomfrey had been able to treat the bruises along with the pain, or he'd be walking around with his face completely black and purple.

Pft, this silly Ravenclaw girl talking to him didn't know a single thing, as if she had any idea what it felt like to live daily with this incessant loathing over someone who continually and humiliatingly bested you no matter what you did.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked in a tone that implied she was aware he'd give her a negative answer.

He just shrugged and said, "Don't know, don't care," once again focusing his eyes on the Lake, thus missing her resigned half-smile.

"I'm Daphne's sister."

That caught his attention. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Daphne? I didn't know she had a sister."

"She pretends I don't exist. See, she's the perfect one, and with her around no one sees me as me. I'm just the other Greengrass. I'm second best."

Draco tilted his head and Astoria gave him a smile, thinking he finally understood what they had in common. Smoothing her hands down her skirt, her blue eyes sparkled as she spoke with conviction, "My grandmother says that feeling like second best now doesn't matter because someday I'll be the most important person in someone else's life. And he'll never see me as second best."

Draco considered wiping away her hopeful smile with a well-placed insult but bit his tongue, losing himself in thought. Her sudden cheerfulness and trying-to-be-uplifting words had made one thing clear: he was Draco Malfoy, and Malfoys were never second best. Hogwarts was changing and Professor Umbridge's reign on the school was tightening; all he had to do was wait, just wait for the perfect opportunity to catch Potter and his band of idiots doing something that wasn't allowed, and then he'd be able to make Scarhead feel very sorry. Plus Potter and those two redheaded, unfunny monstrosities were banned from Quidditch for life! That meant he had won!

And that was all it took: he felt like himself again, ready to bully younger students, taunt weak Gryffindors like Longbottom, walk around taking points at random and report all the goings-on to Professor Umbridge. He got up and walked away with a spring in his step, eager to start spreading terror.

He couldn't quite remember what the blonde Ravenclaw had told him to fill him with such an energetic dose of evilness, but it must have been sort of important.

Wait, what was her name?

He turned around and saw her staring at him, looking dejected at his sudden departure. He kept watching as she frowned and hurled another rock into the Lake before crossing her arms, apparently sulking.

Draco had no idea what came over him, but he found himself walking back to the sullen girl and asking, "What's your name?"

She did not look up. "Like you care."

"Hmm. I shall call you Daphne's shadow, then."

"Whatever," she grouched, still miffed at him for leaving in the middle of a conversation, especially since she had opened up to him and tried to be nice.

A calculating look entered his eyes. "But I thought you wanted to be recognized for yourself, not be constantly associated with your allegedly perfect sister…" He smirked to himself when she raised her gaze to his.

"I'm Astoria," she said softly. "Astoria Greengrass."

Many years later, Draco would wonder how, at that moment, when he looked into her eyes, he felt nothing. How, when he heard her voice and her name, he felt nothing. How throughout that brief conversation he had felt nothing. He would also wonder how he had been able to forget her so easily until he met her again, when he was a depressed, lonely and haunted 22-year-old man with no hope for the future and she a fresh-faced, spirited, warm-hearted 20-year-old witch with a rising career in the Ministry.

But back then, in that spot by the Lake, when he was a Fifth Year and she a Third, there was no earth-shattering moment for either of them, no sparks, nothing that gave a glimpse of their future together. Back then, all Draco saw was a skinny and short Ravenclaw girl with a revolting urge to be chatty with strangers, the second best Greengrass sister, and all Astoria saw was an arrogant, sneering and rude Slytherin boy, the second best Seeker at Hogwarts.

It was only when he proposed all those years later and she said yes that both realized they hadn't felt like second best in quite a while, and would never feel that way again.

THE END

A/N 2: I apologize if it seemed I was bashing the Gryffindor students and Harry in particular, but Draco really did despise them at the time and as we all know he wasn't a very nice person back then, so I had to write him like that.

I hope you enjoyed this one-shot :)