Happy June! Summer's almost here! And now, on with chapter 2. :)
Chapter 2: First Sight
(Astoria's pov)
I'm an outsider in my family. Why? Because my older sister, Daphne, has always been my parents' favorite. Oh, I'm not exaggerating. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Daphne couldn't be more perfect in my parents' eyes. She's a Slytherin, and believes pure-bloods like us are superior to everyone else, just like my parents. Me? I have thick, dark brown hair and green eyes, was sorted into Ravenclaw, and think blood purity is a bunch of nonsense. My parents rarely let me leave the house because I apparently "bring shame to the Greengrass family". Whatever.
Only three days had passed since I returned from my seventh year at Hogwarts, and I already wished I was still at school. It is difficult for me to endure my parents' daily comments about how much I disappoint them and that I should be more like Daphne. It was worse in the year following the war, the year that followed my fifth year. The school was so destroyed from the final battle, that it was forced to be closed for 1998 -1999 school year, and the students were held back for a year. During that time, my parents tortured me with their words.
"Astoria!" my mother called harshly, making me jump. "Where are you?"
"Coming, Mother!" I called back, and let out a deep sigh. Apparently, I had been too lost in my thoughts to hear my mother calling. Quickly, I went downstairs, and into the dining room, where Mother, Father, and twenty-one-year-old Daphne were waiting.
"What took so long?" Mother snapped.
"I'm sorry, I –"
"- No excuses!" My mother interrupted me. "Now, sit down, girl, before you waste anymore of my time."
Trying hard not to roll my eyes at my mother dearest, I took a seat at the table. "Now, this afternoon, we will be accepting a guest. Draco Malfoy will be coming to stay for the summer. I assume you know him, Daphne?"
"Of course, Mother. He dated Pansy for a while." Daphne replied. I sighed, but luckily no one noticed. Of course she knew who Draco Malfoy was. Everyone knew who he was. Draco was a Slytherin in Daphne's year, or two years above me. All that I really knew about him was that he was popular with the Slytherins, but not with anyone from the other houses. Daphne's best friend, Pansy Parkinson, gushed over him for a while before he couldn't stand her any longer and dumped her, but I can't say I blame him. Pansy was… well, a bitch. Also, the Malfoys had the same views on blood as my parents and sister, and were death eaters, and Draco even let a whole herd of You-Know-Who's followers into the castle in my fourth year, which eventually lead to Professor Dumbledore's death. One of the only things I liked about my parents was that they were never death eaters. Although they had an obsession with blood purity, they thought You-Know-Who was a little extreme in his strategies.
Mother nodded her approval at Daphne. "Good. Now go get cleaned up. You have to look nice for Draco's arrival. We want him to approve of you" With that, Daphne was dismissed.
"Now, Astoria, you need to get ready as well. Draco's a pureblood, after all, and I want you to at least look decent." Mother said.
"Yes, Mother." I muttered, and went upstairs to change.
(Draco's pov)
I arrived at the Greengrass Manor at four o'clock sharp. Daphne opened the door when I arrived, smiling as she did so. Her dress, which was a Slytherin shade of green, fell to just below the knees, and the sleeves didn't pass the top of her shoulders. I had to admit, she looked rather nice.
Nearly as soon as I arrived, Daphne gave me a tour of her home. It was quite large, but not as big as Malfoy Manor. The tour took about fifteen minutes or so, and afterwards we sat in Daphne's room with the door open and talked about how our lives have been going since we left Hogwarts until about five o'clock and it was time for dinner.
I sat down at the long table at the Greengrass' table and waited for the food to be served. As I waited, I couldn't help but notice a girl sitting at the other end of the table. Her thick, dark brown hair flowed down past her shoulders, and her green eyes shone like emeralds. She was staring down at her not-yet-filled plate, and I don't think I've ever seen a person who looked sadder than she did. Where had I seen her before? Suddenly, it hit me. This was Daphne's younger sister. She was two years younger than Daphne and I, and a Ravenclaw, so I didn't know much about her. The more I thought about it, I couldn't even remember her name. Yet, I found myself stealing quick glances at her without the rest of the family noticing.
"So, Draco, how are your parents doing?" Stephan Greengrass asked me once the meal began.
"They're fine." I replied. "We prefer to stay at home, though."
Stephan nodded. "That's understandable. It's a shame though. The war destroyed the lives of so many purebloods. There's not many of us left."
Rosaline Greengrass nodded in agreement. "That's why I feel it's important for purebloods to stay together. There is no way I'm letting my daughters marrying anybody but a pureblood, and I believe the Malfoys would be an honorable family to marry into."
I hesitated. Quickly, I glanced at Daphne to see if she gave any indication of knowing of our parents' plan. She just stared at her plat and didn't say a word. "Thank you, Mrs. Greengrass."
After about a half hour of listening to Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass describe at least four or five generations of their family tree, Daphne and I were dismissed. We went back to her room to spend a few more hours together before bed. Suddenly, curiosity got the better of me, and I just had to ask about Daphne's sister.
Daphne rolled her eyes when I asked her what her sister's name was. "Astoria." She replied simply, and attempted to change the subject. "Now, you may think I have hard feelings about you because of how you broke up with Pansy, but I don't. Honestly, I could just tell you weren't right for each other."
"No, we weren't," I replied. "But tell me more about your sister. She seemed rather quiet."
Daphne stared at me for a moment as her lips transformed into a frown. "She was told not to speak by my parents. Trust me, Draco; you do not want to associate with Astoria."
"And why not?" I asked.
"She's a shame to my family." Daphne answered. "She doesn't know how advantageous it is to be a pureblood. According to her, mudbloods are just as deserving of magic as pure-bloods. Why do you want to talk about her, anyways?"
"I'm just curious." I snapped. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll go to bed."
"Fine." Daphne scoffed at me. She was obviously quite annoyed with me. "I won't stop you."
That night, as I lay in my bed, I couldn't seem to get my mind off of Astoria. She was just so intriguing. But why? I didn't know. But I did know that I wanted to find out as soon as possible.
Author's note: 6 reviews all in one chapter! Keep it up guys! I can see many reviews in this story's future. Maybe it will even reach 200 reviews like my last story "Trust Me" ( a Scorpius/Rose fic) did. :) It doesn't hurt to hope, right?