They all knew this was it. That this was the end.
This would decide everything.
Granted, nothing had happened yet, but tensions were running high throughout the school. If the school year would follow the pattern of previous years, then something would happen. It was inevitable almost.
No one felt it as much as the Slytherins. Although the rest of the school thought that the Slytherins had it a lot better, they felt the pressure almost as worse as the mudbloods and the bloodtraitors.
There was pressure from the Carrows to be better than everybody. There was pressure from the rest of the school to stand up against the Carrows. Their parents were pressuring them to act for the best of the family. The pressure was surrounding them.
Astoria Greengrass could feel that pull and how it felt like everything and everyone was bearing down on her. She was trying to balance every aspect of her life, trying to study for her OWL's, and try to keep her crush under wraps.
Her breaths came out in gasps as tears involuntarily leaked out of her eyes. The little alcove she had found herself in felt like it was closing in on her, but it was practically the only place that she had found that was private.
The common room that used to be a safe haven had turned into a war zone. The mainly calm, if a bit tense, area had turned into a silent turf war.
Loyalties were being stretched to the very max. For years it had been Slytherin versus everyone else, and their own ideals were often pushed to the side to be dealt with after Hogwarts.
No one knew what they believed in anymore.
Hence why Astoria was holed away in the small alcove, crying from the stress of it all.
She didn't know what she believed in anymore.
How could her blood somehow be better? Was she meant to kill everybody?
Astoria doubted that she could blame her troubles today on her period again. The Carrows weren't happy with her, but Alecto had understand. Kind of.
The bruise on her face said otherwise.
As Astoria's near silent sobs slowed down, she could hear the rest of the castle. In past years it had been full of noise, of laughter.
Now it was silent. With occasional screams intermingled in with the strangled silence.
Astoria was left with only her gasping breaths as she desperately tried to calm herself down. It was called the Slytherin mask, but this year it was the normal face. For everyone. And any cracks in it were instantly taken advantage off by the Carrow siblings or the more….dedicated Pure-bloods.
Soon, she had straightened up, adjusting her robes so they were in perfect order once more. She took a few deep calming breaths, wiping away any stray tears. Pulling out her wand, she cast a glamour over her eyes to help disguise the fact she had been crying.
Astoria took another moment to lock in her mask, any emotion being locked away in her mind. No weakness. Nothing.
As she left the little alcove, she cast a cursory glance around.
Of course something happened. Of course it did.
And she just had to be the one person to witness it.
Aquilo Selwyn. Astoria felt her lip curl instinctively once she caught sight of the sixth year. He was one of the Purebloods who had taken advantage of the Carrow's system as soon as it was put into place. He wasn't known for his brains.
Then her sneer faltered as she saw the kid in front of him. A first-year, maybe second-year, but more likely to be first.
Astoria's hand flew to her wand, and partially pulled it out of its holster when the flash of yellow hit her eyes. Her hand froze.
A Hufflepuff.
Just a Hufflepuff.
Astoria stared as Aquilo raised his wand again, she tried to make her body turn away, to move on. To just go back to the common room. It wasn't her problem. She put her wand back in its' holster, determined to ignore it. But her legs wouldn't move as she stared at the shaking first year.
But it was a kid. One who was only four years younger than her. A girl.
But, it was a Hufflepuff. Probably a half-blood.
A kid.
A Hufflepuff.
A girl.
A Half-blood.
A child.
"Cruc-"Aquilo started to say.
Astoria's wand whipped out faster than she realized she could even draw as she whispered "Stupefy," In the deadliest, quietest voice she can think of. And big, brutish Aquilo dropped like a rock, collapsing and barely missing the trembling kid.
There's silence as Hufflepuff and Slytherin stare at each other, both with terrified glances.
With that one spell, that one word, Astoria had labelled herself as a bloodtraitor, she knew this. Knew this as much as she knew that Lovegood wouldn't be coming back.
And it terrified her.
While the only person to witness her change of sides was the Hufflepuff, Astoria knew. And she could end up dead, or worse, if this ever got out.
The Hufflepuff was still staring at her, eyes wide and filled with tears. Definitely a first-year.
"Hey Aquilo! What are you doing up there? It's just a first-year!"
Damien Archambault.
It seemed that the first year also recognized his voice because she paled even more, looking like one of the resident ghosts. Her face standing out against the brown of hair.
Making another split-second decision, Astoria raced over, grasped the first year's small wrist, and yanked her up. Astoria took off, pulling the tiny kid behind her as they raced through the halls.
Astoria had cast the first spell. She would be damned if she would let the kid be killed because of her. Not a first year.
The alcove she had been in caught her eye and she hesitated, bouncing on her toes as she bit her lip, looking back to where Aquilo had fallen and the approaching footsteps of Damien.
The yells of Damien discovering Aquilo cemented the idea and she shoved the girl in the alcove in front of her before squeezing in herself.
It wasn't terribly comfortable, but it fit the two of them.
Astoria cast a small Disillusionment charm on the two of them, praying to Merlin that Damien would be too occupied in his rage to notice the small distortions of the two against the alcove.
The little Hufflepuff was behind her, fists scrunched up in her robe. Astoria raised her wand a bit, preparing herself for a potential battle.
This kid would not die on her watch.
The footsteps approached the alcove and both of them held their breath as Damien came into view. His wand was clenched in his hand as he moved it from end to end of the corridor, prepared for anything. He stopped by the alcove and raised his wand a bit more as he approached.
Astoria and the Hufflepuff held their breaths as the wand grew ever closer to Astoria's face. He squinted, but seemed to see nothing.
As he backed up and started back down the corridor, Astoria let out a small breath of air with the girl taking gasping breaths into the back of her robe.
Carefully taking a step out into the hallway, Astoria kept the Hufflepuff behind her. One arm was practically bent backward as she tried to keep the Hufflepuff behind her, the other one holding her wand ahead of her.
Astoria could see her hand shaking, but shoved the thought into the back of her mind. She was not analyzing this now. She had to get the Hufflepuff to her dorm.
It was a painful trip to the Hufflepuff dorm, with the Hufflepuff was glued to her back and Astoria felt too paranoid to drop the disillusionment to just book it to the dorm.
As it was, Astoria was certain that she had just shortened her lifespan a lot from how many near heart-attacks she had had.
Near the entrance to the Hufflepuff dorm, Astoria brought the first year next to her.
"Kid, you won't be able to go to classes anymore. Not since I've pissed off Aquilo and Damien. They'll unfairly blame you. Find where the other kids disappear to and get there. Okay?" Astoria whispered to the Hufflepuff.
There was a small nod and Astoria nodded back, "Good. Come on, almost there."
At the entrance, the girl paused and looked at Astoria.
"Don't worry, I won't tell the password." Even with the situation being what it was, Astoria thought it a bit funny how worried the kid was over a password. While she could understand why, what with the nutters in the castle, it also stung because she had just saved this kid.
She had saved this kid and was labelled a bloodtraitor, even if no one knew besides her and the kid, and the girl was worried over…
But Astoria's train of thought was interrupted by a pair of arms wrapping around her middle. Befuddled, Astoria looked at the first year hugging her, she hadn't had a hug in ages.
Hesitantly she wrapped her arms around the girl as well.
"Thanks so much. I'm Lorraine." The girl whispered and then she took off for her dorm room, hurriedly giving the password and darting in with one last wave to Astoria.
Astoria stood there a moment longer, just looking at the entrance before realizing where she was and hurried away.
Her business was done here.
A/N:: This isn't quite a one-shot. I've got a few other ideas running around my brain, a few half-finished parts, but I wanted to post this one. Astoria Greengrass kind of fascinates me because she's a Pureblood yet teaches her son to not judge others based on their blood status. I've read a couple absolutely fascinating stories about her, so I figured why not put this one out there? This may turn into a bunch of one-shot's, but I don't really know. If you want to send me prompts you want to see, go ahead. If so, be aware that there may be a lot of OC's simply because Harry's oblivious and doesn't notice anybody.
Have fun reading!