Author's Note: Alright, here is chapter 2! It takes place during her second year at Hogwarts, and it is a very important chapter in her characterization.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Enjoy!


These Past Shadows

Ch. 2: The Yule Ball & The Death Of Cedric Diggory

Tonight is the night of the Yule Ball, and somehow my friends and I got lucky enough to score invites from older guys. Kya is in a panic, being the girliest out of all of us. She has to look "absolutely, one hundred percent perfect." Me? I just threw on the silver dress that I bought from Twilfit and Tattings, and brushed my hair so that it actually looks somewhat decent. My straight black locks fall to my waist, contrasting sharply with my abnormally pale skin.

Staring into my blue eyes in the mirror, I can't help the nervous feeling I get in the pit of my stomach. Daphne will be there, as will all of her friends, and I haven't spoken to any of them (except Daphne of course) since my disastrous second morning when I received that humiliating howler from my parents. It was awful. It took every ounce of will I had not to throw something at the people laughing from the Slytherin table.

"TORI, IF YOU DO NOT GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT, WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE, AND NOT EVEN SHED A TEAR FOR YOUR ABSENCE!" Lia shouts up the stairs. I sigh.

"Well, it's now or never."

I walk down the stairs, ignoring the jealous looks I receive from the second years who weren't lucky enough to score a date. Selene looks stunning in her emerald green dress, and Lia is certainly going to have quite the evening in store for her. It should be illegal for those two to look that drop-dead gorgeous. Raquel…I'd rather not talk about the disaster that is her appearance.

"Where's Kya?" I ask, wondering why she hasn't been screamed at yet.

"Where do you think? She'll probably be ready right about the time that the ball ends," Lia responds.

Liana and I have become best friends since that first day. We have become so close, that we not only do we tell each other everything, but we are almost completely inseparable as well.

I smile at her attempt at humor, knowing that she's about to drag her down by her hair. Unfortunately, Kyara chooses that minute to come down the stairs, looking stunning, of course.

We exit the common room, following the crowds to the room where the ball is to take place. Dean is there waiting for Selene, who smiles at us before dragging him into the mounds of people.

I look around for Seamus, planning to escape him as soon as we make it in. I really don't like him, and he doesn't like me, but we helped each other out. I helped him by arriving with him so he doesn't look like a loser, and he helped me by getting me into the party.

Soon, I am pushing my way through the crowd, attempting to get as far away from the punch bowl as possible. I assume that he knows that I ditched him, but as far as I know, he knew I would as soon as I accepted.

Unfortunately, my luck for that night ran out, because I literally run into Malfoy.

"Damn it! Watch where you're-oh, it's you." He says. I glare up at him quite impressively.

I whirl around on my back foot, starting to walk away. He's not having that. He reaches out and grabs my wrist, preventing my escape. Just my luck.

I sigh and decide to feed into his bait after he drags me across the room to a secluded wall.

"What the hell do you want, you prat?" I ask. I haven't missed anything that's gone on when it involves the Great Malfoy-Potter Debates. I seriously think about allowing him to relive that time Professor Moody turned him small, white, and furry. The form suited him better than the one in front of me.

"How did you even get into this ball?" He asks. I can't help but feel insulted, but I decide to do what he did to me: answer his question with a completely unrelated question.

"You know what I hate?" I ask. Before he can answer, I answer my own rhetorical question. "When other people answer my questions with questions!"

He smirks at me before claiming that "a lowly Gryffindoor like me isn't worth his time," and walking away. I glare after him.

"Astoria?" Daphne says, coming up to me. I can tell she isn't pleased.

"I don't need this," I mutter. I push my way into the hallway, heading outside. Fred and George have taken me under their wing, showing all of the secret passages out of the castle to me. I sit down in the grass and pull my legs up to my chest as I stare up at the stars.


The silence in the stands is eerie, and I can't help the feeling that something inside that maze is going dreadfully wrong. Draco is wearing an idiotic, self-satisfied smirk on his face, which makes me think that he knows exactly what's going on in there.

I don't like it. Not one little bit.

Then, the stands erupt into cheers when Potter appears in the clearing at the entrance of the maze. But something does not feel right.

Then I see what.

Potter is clinging to the body of Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion, and even from my perch I can see that he is dead.

Later that night, when everyone is heading back to their common rooms, I can't help but over hear Malfoy telling his friends Nott and Zabini how Cedric deserved his fate since he was a muggle-born.

"Did not! No one deserves to die!" I exclaim, breaking into his little argument. He whirls around to face me.

"You just don't learn, do you little girl? Stay out of my way." He turns away, for some reason assuming that I'll listen to him.

"The hell I will!"

"Nott? Would you mind showing her what happens when someone refuses to listen to me?"

Nott steps forward, but stops at my humorless bark of laughter.

"Always the coward, aren't we Malfoy? It amazes me that people actually worship at your cowardly feet! Obviously they don't realize what a great arse you are!"

I have the pleasure of watching his face flame before Selene grabs my elbow.

"Come on. He's not worth it."

"Petrificus totalus!" Malfoy says, whipping out his wand on my friend. Before it can hit her, I grab my ash wood wand.

"Protego!" I shout.

"Nice," Selene tells me.

"Relashio!"

I grit my teeth. If it's a duel the great git wants, it's a duel he shall get. And he hasn't seen me in a duel before.

"Stupefy!"

"Ennervate!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The black wand of my enemy goes flying, and I smile to myself.

"Give up yet, Malfoy?"

The cowards turn and flee down the hall, stopping only for Malfoy to retrieve his wand and send a spell back at me, which I counter easily.

"Well, that certainly was interesting," Raquel says, coming over to us.

I snicker. "Wait until the school hears that the mighty Draco Malfoy was beaten in a duel by a lowly second year."

"Come on, we better get back to the common room before someone else finds us. No doubt Malfoy will try to get back at you by crying to Snape that you're out and about this time of night." Selene reasons.

I nod, and we run down the halls back to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Banana fritters," Raquel says. The portrait swings open, and I immediately run up to our dorm.

Nobody deserved death less than Cedric Diggory. He was always a great guy, unlike the great git that claimed that his blood brought on his death. How idiotic. I think that there may be one person on this planet more insane than Lord Voldemort, and that, my friends, is Draco Lucius Malfoy.

I change into my pajamas and slowly fall into a restless slumber, horrible visions haunting my mind.

But the vision that resonates is the return of the Dark Lord to power.

And that cannot be a good thing, even in a dream.


Author's Note: For some reason I just love it when they annoy each other. The ending was definitely my favorite part.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Next Chapter: 3rd Year setting.