Views of a Romance

Years One and Two

Astoria was terrified. She slowly walked toward the stool, her feet feeling like lead. She sat down and the scene in front of her slowly turned to black as Professor McGonagall lowered the Sorting Hat over her head.

Her family was a Slytherin family. Her mother and father had been in Slytherin and her sister, Daphne was sitting at the table, waiting for Astoria to join her. It wasn't long before a voice sounded inside her head.

"A Slytherin, it seems," the hat said to her.

Please, Astoria begged. Please put me in Slytherin.

"You want to be like the rest of your family?" the hat asked.

Yes. Please put me in Slytherin!

"If it is what you wish," the hat conceded, and announced her placement in the house.

Astoria leapt from the stool and went running toward the table on the right, where her housemates were clapping politely upon her arrival. Astoria looked for Daphne, hoping there was an empty seat next to her, but saw her settled in the middle of a big group of her friends. They were talking and laughing and Astoria realized with a start that her sister hadn't even watched the sorting. Slowly, the young girl walked up to her sister and pulled on her robe.

"Daph?"

Her sister looked over at her little sister, irritated that she had been interrupted. Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a Slytherin," Astoria told her. The words sounded weak coming out of her mouth. After all the nights she had stayed up, worried that she would be sorted into Hufflepuff, being sorted into Slytherin was no big deal. Daphne shrugged and turned back to her friends.

Astoria hung her head in shame and walked to the front of the table to sit with the other first years. At least here, being sorted into Slytherin was worth celebrating. These students were enjoying the feast, filling themselves on meat and pumpkin juice and sharing stories passed down from older witches.

"Potions is easy," one boy told Astoria. "The professor favors us as it is, so you don't have to be too good to do well."

She nodded her head but kept her gaze on plate, still upset from her sister's disregard. When the two were smaller, they had been the best of friends. Their two year age gap was a small detail. Something had changed when Daphne went off to Hogwarts, leaving Astoria alone. The girl had hoped that when she was able to join her sister in the Great Hall, they could be friends again. She had dreams of them staying up late in the Slytherin common room, gossiping about their classmates and laughing well into the morning hours. After being in Slytherin for only five minutes, those dreams were dashed and replaced with a feeling of loneliness that Astoria couldn't seem to overcome.

There were three other girls sorted in with her. They were all came off as very confident and Astoria felt out of place. Everyone seemed happy to be at Hogwarts, but Astoria wanted to go home. She plastered a fake smile on her face and pretended to listen to Dominic's predictions of what the next seven years would hold.

When everyone stood to go see their new dorm for the first time, Astoria followed, dragging her feet.

"Tori!"

The young girl's ears perked up at her sister's voice. Daphne was in the front of the crowd with her friends. The tall witches and wizards around her looked impatient, ready to head to their dormitories and unpack. Astoria hurried to catch up with them.

"Mom told me to walk to the Common Room with you your first time. Try to keep up."

Daphne turned on her heel and started walking out of the Great Hall, still surrounded by her friends. Astoria walked behind them, grateful to be with Daphne's friends instead of the smug first years she had had dinner with. The girls giggled and tittered, but the boys were silent.

Astoria recognized Daphne's good friend Pansy among the girls. Pansy had come to the Greengrass house a few times to visit with Daphne since they had begun school. Pansy had never been nice to Astoria and Astoria didn't like her at all. There was a boy walking next to her, looking as bored as the other men. His blonde hair fell across his forehead, almost touching his eyes. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were on the floor.

Pansy laughed at a joke Daphne had made and put her hand on the boy's elbow. "That is a riot, isn't it Draco?"

Draco turned his head to look at the girls and Astoria was able to study his face. He had sharp features and smooth pale skin. Her heart jumped in her chest just to look at him.

"Oh, yes. Just a riot," he replied before resuming his diligent watch of the floor.

Astoria kept her eyes on Draco for the rest of their walk. While the other boys smirked at the girls conversations, Draco's face remained stoic. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and didn't seem to care about what Daphne and Pansy were saying. The young girl was taking in all of the details of Draco's appearance. She almost tripped on a few uneven stones in the dungeons because she was so engrossed in studying his shoes.

When they arrived at their Common Room entrance, Draco hurried quickly to the men's dorms, leaving Pansy and the gossiping girls to themselves. Astoria shook her head, trying to clear the older blonde boy from her thoughts. Her efforts were in vain.


Coming back to Hogwarts for her second year didn't carry near as much stress as the first. Astoria was firmly in Slytherin and even had friends to sit with at the opening feast. Emmalina had come off as arrogant at first, but Astoria realized that all the first years were equally nervous to see how their first year would go. The two girls were fast friends and shared everything together. Astoria knew that Emmalina had kissed a Ravenclaw boy two years older than them at the end of the year before. Emmalina knew Astoria had hexed Daphne's knickers to itch after she had been rude to her younger sister over the summer. Astoria knew Emmalina's parents were disappointed she had not been a male heir and her younger brother, Hartley, was the favored child. Most importantly, Emmalina knew Astoria had a huge crush on Draco Malfoy, even though she had never spoken to him.

The two girls were sitting in the library together in the middle of November. They had an essay due for McGonagall's class and were trying to finish quickly so they could join their fellow housemates in a game of Exploding Snap before retiring for the night.

"Done," Emmalina proclaimed, slamming her book shut with a triumphant smile.

Astoria sighed. She still had seven inches to write before she could consider ending her essay. Transfiguration had never been her best subject while Emmalina seemed to excel in everything.

"Go ahead back to the Common Room," Astoria told her friend. "I'll be a while. Leave the book so I can use it. I'll put it back."

Emmalina hesitated for a second, before nodding and collecting her things. After so much time together, Emmalina had learned that Astoria didn't want her help. Astoria preferred to do her own work on her own time than to have Emmalina feed her answers.

"I'll wait up for you," Emmalina promised before hurrying back to the Common Room to play with her housemates. Knowing Emmalina, she would probably win.

Astoria looked back to her essay and sighed again, wishing she could be as bright as her best friend. She turned to the book Emmalina had left on the table and began flipping through it, looking for information she could use in her essay.

Forty minutes later, Astoria closed the book with a sense of finality and pride. She collected her inkwell, quill, and parchment in her bag and went to put the large volume back on the shelf. She walked quickly, trying to get back to the Common Room with enough time to play one round of Exploding Snap before she needed to get to sleep.

Moving at a quick pace, Astoria didn't bother to look before rounding a corner. She collided with someone taller than her; someone with a firm chest that knocked her backwards and onto the floor. She cursed under the breath and moved to collect the parchment and books that had fallen out of her bag when she fell. Once collected, Astoria stood, the large volume on Transfiguration clutched in her hands. When she saw who she had run into, she almost dropped it again.

Draco Malfoy stood there, his face blank. He hadn't moved since Astoria crashed into him, here merely watched her as she struggled to regain her composure. His grey eyes seemed to pierce her soul.

"You should be more careful, Greengrass," he warned her. "Some people might not understand if you try to knock them over."

Astoria was stunned into silence as her face turned red. This was not the way she had imagined first trading words with Draco Malfoy. In her head, she would be dressed in a beautiful ball gown and he would be in his dress robes, escorting her to a dance. Astoria would see Daphne's face in shock that she, the younger sister, had landed the most desired man in Slytherin. Instead, Astoria had nearly knocked him off his feet and she we was looking disheveled and was unable to speak.

"Sorry," Astoria was finally able to murmur under her breath, eyes cast down. "I need to put this book away…" She trailed off, realizing her excuses sounded insignificant.

Draco raised an eyebrow, considering her. After a moment, he nodded. "Be on your way then, Astoria."

She raised her gaze to meet his eye for only a second before she scurried past him to the shelf she needed to put the book on. Astoria headed off to the Slytherin Common room at a brisk pace. She desperately wanted to talk to Emmalina and tell her what had just happened. Not only had she spoken to Draco for the first time and touched his chest, but he knew her name. The way it sounded in his voice was echoing in her head over and over.

"Astoria. Astoria. Astoria."


A/N- Hey guys! I hope you like this so far. It will be three chapters long, covering Astoria's first six years at Hogwarts. Please take note that this will get more and more graphic as she grows up. For those of you on my Author Alerts, I posted this earlier but removed it to make some edits. It's up for good now! Thanks, and please review!