Volume One: Astoria's Story

As far as old, old families went, the Greengrasses were one of the oldest in existence. They could trace their family back to generation upon generation of Pure-bloods and ancient magical families. They carried themselves with decorum and with the utmost of good breeding and superior manner at all times.

The daughters, Daphne and Astoria, were perfect Pure-blood ladies.

The Greengrass sisters were delicate creatures who ate like birds, danced with skill and finesse, and spoke in quiet and dulcet voices. They were sorted into the traditional family House of Slytherin at Hogwarts, associated with other families of similar heritage, and were only ever seen, even out of school, to be in the best of company.

Daphne was the eldest by two years, and quite the accomplishment of Pure-blood breeding and quality. Her dark blonde hair and blue eyes were off-set with strong, aristocratic features, an impeccable sense of fashion, and a smile that was pleasant and winning. She spoke when spoken to, yet was always up on the latest gossip. She was quite musical, and could sing and play the cello. In fact, she'd been a regularly featured soloist in the Hogwarts school choir. She was everything that a lady of her bearing should be, and her parents doted on her excessively.

Astoria was also very pretty. She had very dark hair that she styled in complicated ringlets. She also had brown eyes, and Astoria had been told frequently, that they were quite beautiful, if not a bit large. She had a small, slightly upturned nose, and a small mouth. She was much daintier than Daphne, although, in Astoria's mind, nowhere near as pretty as her sister.

Astoria was not musical, per se. She could play the flute well enough to accompany Daphne, but took no real joy in it. Instead, she carried her prowess in intellect. She spoke English, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Russian all fluently, and was a master of nearly every school subject.

It was not surprising, therefore, that the Greengrass girls were expected to line up, get married, and produce children that would carry on a tradition of grace and good breeding.

Astoria had, in fact, succeeded at this expectation with much more speed and success than her family would have ever expected.

Astoria Greengrass was courting Draco Malfoy, with an engagement rumored to be in the works, much to her parents' delight. After all, if the Greengrasses were an old family, the Malfoys were surely older. The only real surprise in the union came from the fact that it was Astoria that Draco asked for, and not Daphne.

It should have been Daphne, if Astoria were honest with herself. Daphne was quite pretty, really. She was also the right age for marriage in Pure-blood society, at just barely twenty.

Besides that, Daphne and Draco were in the same year at school. They had had much more opportunity for socializing than Draco and Astoria had.

Of course, in Astoria's mind, that might well have been why the Malfoy's sole heir eschewed her sister to begin with.

Only those who really knew Daphne knew her at all. That is to say that she was a very different person when within the halls of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She spent the majority of her time socializing with Pansy Parkinson and other girls of that ilk, and her nature was nowhere near as pleasant as it appeared when she was playing cribbage with another young lady or eating cucumber sandwiches at a party. In fact, Daphne Greengrass was quite cruel. She was, as most girls of any status are, a shark. She took delight in bringing misery and ruination to others through a network of gossip and intrigue, and had been personally responsible for the dissolving of two courtships, and possibly, though Astoria could never prove it, one engagement.

Whether or not the Greengrasses were aware of their daughters distinct personalities is unknown. Although, if they were aware, it seemed to make little difference. Mr. Wilberforce Greengrass was essentially only attentive to either of his children in a strictly financial sense, and Mrs. Berengaria Greengrass devoted all of her attention to making Daphne the best prospect for marriage that she possibly could. To the outside observer, it would seem that the Greengrass household did not expect too terribly much of Astoria.

This is because Astoria was, as Berengaria often put it when speaking to her dear friend, Mrs. Zabini, odd.

Astoria was prone to giggle fits. They weren't horrible, really, but to a Pure-blood lady, they were social suicide. They were hardly appropriate for a lady of any composure, and they appeared to be entirely out of Astoria's control. This fact horrified Berengaria, and she did her level best to supervise her youngest daughter at social events, to ensure that this damaging quality did not show.

Astoria was also prone to speaking her mind more than was strictly desirable. She tended to talk without thinking, and occasionally even horrify those to whom she was speaking with some onf her newer fashioned ideas on fashion and social hierarchy.

And so, when Draco Malfoy asked Wilberforce for respectful permission to court his youngest daughter, you could have knocked Wilberforce over with a feather. He hemmed and hawed about it, but everyone knew that there was no justifiable way that he could say no to a Malfoy.

And he did not, much to Astoria's delight.