Kamerreon asked for Harry Potter/ Astoria Greengrass. I added "A passing fancy"
A/N: So, Astoria is the two years younger sister to Daphne who is a Slytherin in Harry's year. I am putting Astoria in Slytherin as well, rather than Ravenclaw where she can sometimes be seen in fanfiction. Set during Harry's seventh year in an AU verse.
Harry was wandering the halls, trying to escape Gryffindor Tower and the unrelenting pressure of the ball that evening. He truly did understand that everyone wanted to celebrate the one year anniversary of Voldemort's defeat but… was it necessary to have a formal ball at school and throw the savior in to the swarm of sharks, uh fan girls head first?
According to Dumbledore it was. Harry still hadn't asked a date; not that he couldn't find one, but rather all the dates he could find wanted Lord Potter-Black: Chosen One, Savior of the Wizarding World, Defeater of Voldemort, and Boy Who Lived (Twice). He wanted someone who wanted to date Harry, the boy who liked to play quidditch, preferred charms to transfiguration, couldn't start the day without half a pot of tea and hated divinations with a passion. As Harry wandered deeper through the school, he was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of weeping.
Spotting a girl curled up on a window seat crying, he slowly approached.
"Hello?" he began awkwardly. "Are you okay?" Oh, yes Harry, brilliant question. I'm sure she's just fine and sitting there for the sheer amusement of sitting on a window sheet and bawling her eyes out.
The girl stiffened and furtively brushed the tears off her face.
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern," she replied in a formal tone made husky by the tears she had been crying.
"Are you sure? There's nothing that I can help you with? Evil teachers to defeat? Monsters to slay? Invaders to repel? Mazes to run? Ministries to infiltrate?" he teased to get a smile on her face.
The strawberry blonde haired girl quirked a small smile at that.
"No, nothing. Shouldn't you be getting ready for the b-ball?" she asked, he voice quivering on the last word.
"Fortunately, I'm a guy," Harry said as he seated himself next to her by the large window overlooking the lake and Forbidden Forest, "I take about half an hour to get ready. What about you? All of the girls that I saw in the Tower were running around starting to get ready. I'm Harry, by the way."
"I'm Astoria Greengrass. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Potter-Black," Astoria said formally.
"Please," the black haired Gryffindor begged, "Just call me Harry. I find the whole Lord Potter-Black thing tiresome."
"I would be delighted," the Slytherin girl smiled and a pair of dimples deepened on her cheeks. Harry began to sense a mystery as to why such a pretty girl was crying in a near abandoned hallway just hours before the grand ball. He thought perhaps sharing might help her open up a little.
"I was out wandering in order to avoid everyone in Gryffindor Tower. They're all insisting that I take Ginny Weasley to the ball. I don't even like Ginny; she's a stalker! And she's just the absolute worst of my fan girls," Harry grimaced.
Astoria laughed and then sobered, her brown eyed tearing up slightly once more.
"I was supposed to have gone to the ball with Draco; our parents have been discussing a marriage contract for the past few years and he had asked me to the ball a few weeks ago. Then, about two hours ago," here Astoria had to stop to suck in a sobbing breath. Harry offered her a handkerchief that he had transfigured, "Thank you. Anyway, about two hours ago Draco approached me and told me that his parents had found him a spouse from out of the country and that I was just a passing fancy. He no longer wished to attend the ball with me, he said. He's taking Parkinson instead." Tears overflowed once more and Harry carefully patted Astoria on the shoulder. After a few moments, she calmed down.
"Thank you for listening," she murmured.
"Not a problem," replied Harry, relieved. "Would you like me to hunt him down and hex him for you?"
Astoria gave a watery giggle. "The ball would have been fun though," she sighed.
"So, why don't you go?" asked Harry, perplexed.
"It wouldn't be proper," she muttered, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Then, Harry had one of his wonderful, harebrained ideas, though for once it was not life endangering.
"I have an idea," he announced gleefully to Astoria who looked up," Miss Greengrass, might I have the pleasure of escorting you to the ball this evening?"
Astoria, being the cunning Slytherin that she is, immediately grasped the plan.
"Lord Potter-Black, I would be most appreciative of your offer of escort," she said. The two exchanged smirks and then—
"I have to go! There's less than three hours before the ball and I have to do me hair and make-up and dress and–" Astoria was cutoff in mid-babble by Harry.
"Calm down, Astoria. I know just what to do to help you, okay?" he smiled. "Winky!"
The cheerful house elf popped up. "You is calling, Master Harry sir?"
"Yes Winky. I have a favor to ask of you. There is a ball in just a few hours and I have just asked Astoria here to go with me. I would appreciate it if you would attend her this evening and help her get ready for the ball, please," he requested.
"Oh Master Harry sir is asking wonderful things of his Winky! Winky is being so pleased to meet Miss Star," babbled the excited house elf. Astoria looked bemused but thanked Harry and Winky.
"I'll pick you up just before the beginning of the ball. You know the disillusionment charm, right?" At her confirming nod, his smirk grew. "Excellent. This will be a ball that they will never forget!"
Daphne Greengrass was worried, not that it was showing on her face or in her body language. Her little sister was late and so was Draco Malfoy. If the little moron had hurt her, he would find out just why Daphne was ranked just behind Potter in the Defense classes. At the sound of a commotion by the door, Daphne leaned around her boyfriend Blaise to see what was happening and promptly saw RED. Malfoy strutted into the room with Parkinson on his arm! He had asked her little sister several weeks earlier in the middle of the common room with many of the member of Slytherin house in attendance.
Rising abruptly, Daphne moved through the room like a guided curse, the crowd parting before her and Blaise following behind.
"Malfoy!" Daphne called out when she grew close enough, "Where is my sister?"
"Why should I care" sneered Draco.
"Perhaps so she doesn't have to challenge you to another duel? You do remember what happened the last time you upset her," Blaise's silky smooth voice and unspoken threat worked and Draco's skin blanched as he remembered the last time he had to duel Daphne. Oh, the humanity, oh the vegetables!
"My parents decided to engage me to someone else and so I decided to escort Pansy to the ball tonight," Draco snapped, his snobbish veneer still mostly intact.
Daphne's eyes narrowed. "When did you break off your escort with my sister? She didn't discuss it with me?" she snarled, beginning to finger her wand menacingly.
"Drakie-poo can do whatever he wants!" Pansy began in a shrill tone, "And he decided he wanted to take me a few hours ago so he dumped her then."
Just before Daphne could begin to murder both Draco and Pansy, the announcement was made that Potter was there to open the ball.
Entering down the staircase, Potter was, for once, resplendent in a deep purple robe with his hair tamed in the ponytail that was tied back at the base of his neck. It was his escort though that shocked the entirety of the room. Astoria glowed in a color coordinating purple gown and some jewelry that Daphne had never seen before.
Someone in the audience gasped. "Those are Potter Family jewels! They haven't been out of the vaults for years!"
Malfoy went to go make a fuss and Daphne gleefully pulled her wand and pressed it to his neck. After a few seconds, he passed out cold. Just for good measure, she did the same thing to Parkinson as well.
"You know, I'll have to thank Lovegood for showing me that Taser Spell; it's very handy," she said cheerfully watching the two twitching bodies at her feet.
Across the room, Luna and Hermione both kept an eye on the redheads lying insensate on the ground.
A/N: Hope you like it Kay! Thanks for reading, everyone! If you have any prompts or pairings, I'd love to hear from you.