Hello! This is my first fanfiction in English, so I hope you will find it enjoyable ! I am not a native English-speaker, so please, do not hesitate to correct me if I make mistakes.

This story is about Astoria Greengrass, a character I have always found fascinating though only mentionned in passing in the books. Please note that I am trying to make this story as canon compatible as possible (and by canon, I mean the seven books of the Harry Potter series, with a dash of Pottermore extras).

Enjoy !

[November 12th, 1996]

"Miss Greengrass?"

Professor Snape's voice rang loud and clear above the calm chatter of the Slytherin table, and Astoria raised her head to politely greet her Head of House.

"Please follow me to the Headmaster's office."

The young Slytherin furrowed her brow but stood up nonetheless, grabbing a toast to go and her schoolbag on the way out. She caught up with her teacher just as they were passing the doors of the Great Hall, the adult's long strides making it difficult for her to keep up.

"If I may, Professor, I have an Arithmancy class in fifteen minutes, and I am sure Professor Dumbledore has very good reason to summon me this early, but if it could wait until lunch, I would…"

"Your father is dead", cut Snape matter-of-factly with very little regard for his student's feelings. "Now please follow me, your sister is already up there."

Astoria stopped dead in her tracks for a minute before chasing after her Head of House, watching his face closely for any sign that this was some form of twisted joke, but it was a well-known fact that Severus Snape did not have time to waste in making up cruel stories – or at least, not about a Slytherin student – which meant that her father was, indeed, dead.

The young woman did not know what to do with that information. Although he had been her father, she had never really considered him as such. Family meant Mother and Daphne, and maybe her old Aunt Sarah before she passed away, but Emilian Greengrass had never been a part of it. Sure, he had as much respect for his daughters as they had for him, but their relationship had always felt like that of two business partners rather than the bonds of family. Even though it was no secret that he would have liked to have a son, their father had trained them to uphold their name and honour, to follow his steps. He had never really cared about who is daughters were, or what they liked, preferring to focus on what they had to become, and any discussion they had had together, had been cold and short, only aiming to ensure that the Greengrass daughters were following the path he had traced for them.

"Therefore, the shock Astoria felt had nothing to do with sadness. No tears came to her eyes and she did not feel any regret for the relation she had had with her genitor. But even though he had not been an important part of her childhood, he had been an impressive one: what she had a hard time wrapping her mind around was the fact that Emilian Greengrass, a man with such poise and character that he always left behind an impression of invincibility, a man who had never bent, never backed down, a man who she had felt could survive her if given a chance, had died long before his time.

She barely registered Professor Dumbledore offering his condolences and telling her and Daphne that they had a week off to see their family, barely felt her sister's hand wrapping around her fingers, barely noticed the violent tug of the Portkey taking them to St. Mungo's. All she could hear and see was blurred, as though her head had been pushed underwater, and she walked around in a state of shock until a Mediwizard opened the door of a small room and she saw her mother sleeping on a bed, an Auror at her side.

Said Auror got up as soon as the door creaked open, putting himself between Mrs. Greengrass and her daughters:

"Who are you and what are you doing here?", he said, his wand at the ready.

"These are Misses Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, sir", announced the Mediwizard. "They just got here from Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore sent them."

"The Auror quirked an eyebrow and nudged his head towards the door, effectively sending the Mediwizard out.

"My name is Vishal Sonali", he announced in a low voice. "I have been assigned here to protect your mother. Could you please tell me the moto of the House of Greengrass?"

"Velut luna", recited the two girls without hesitating.

"What is written inside Mrs. Greengrass' wedding band?" continued the Auror, his wand still discreetly pointed at the two of them.

"Love and honour above all", automatically responded Daphne, her eyes immediately darting to her mother's hand to check for said ring.

"And Mr. Greengrass'?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die", answered Astoria. "Now that you have made sure we are not Polyjuiced", she added with a glimmer of anger in her eyes, "could you please tell us what is going on and why our mother is lying in a bed in St Mungo's?"

Vishal slowly put his wand down and stepped aside to let them get closer to their mother. Rosalind Greengrass had always been an unconventionally beautiful woman. Taken individually, her features held nothing remarkable. You could even say that her nose was a bit crooked to the side, that her cheekbones were too low, her arms too long for her body, and her hair a strange mixture of blond and chestnut. Somehow however, these features had found a way to arrange themselves in harmony, brought together by her olive complexion and her sassy smile. But as she laid on the hospital bed, pale as death and lips tightened in a straight line, she was nothing but a broken woman.

"Your parents were attacked yesterday evening, after an event at the Durdan Foundation", slowly started Vishal. "It seems that the attacker was a sympathizer of You-Know-Who, and we suppose she wanted to convince your father to become a Death Eater."

Astoria silently snorted at the idea of her father becoming a Death Eater. Emilian Greengrass was no fool: the Magic World needed Muggles and Muggle-Borns. His business needed Muggles and Muggle-Borns – they made for excellent workers and customers. Like almost every single person he met, he treated them with the cold consideration of his needs and their ability to bring him what he wanted. He would never have fought for their rights, but he did not have time to fight against them either. The current state of the magic world made it very hard for anyone who was not a Pureblood to elevate themselves higher in society, due to the lack of connections, money and ingrained knowledge of the inner workings of wizard Great Britain, and he was fine with that injustice. Why bother change it, one way or the other?

"However", continued Vishal, "in doing so she tripped the security system of the Durdan Fortress."

Both girls grimaced at the news. The Durdan family were old wizardry, and their castle had been charmed for centuries, creating a security system that no one in their right mind would willingly try to get through. Pureblood children had all heard the tales of the monsters and traps that hid in the depths of the moat around the old stone walls, and rumours were that Gringotts' Goblins got half of their ideas from the Durdan Fortress. No one really knew if the security system was as dangerous as it was made to be, but no one really wanted to check either.

"Your father barely had the time to get your mother out of harm's way before he and his aggressor were, hum… To put it mildly, they were boiled to death."

Silence fell on the small hospital room and for a few minutes, both girls simply let their eyes wander along their mother's right arm, bandaged and faintly glowing due to the healing charms cast on it.

"I never thought he would value someone's life over his own", ended up commenting Daphne. "Even Mother's. Shows how little I knew of him, I guess."

Astoria nodded in agreement. Vishal was watching them both with wide eyes, visibly surprised by their detached attitudes.

"I do know what he would have wanted though", added the youngest Greengrass. "One shall not hurt a Greengrass and stand unpunished."

"His aggressor did die with him", Vishal interjected. "I would say that is punishment enough, and even if you think it is not, justice should never be served by one's own hands."

Both girls nodded and the Auror relaxed. If he had paid more attention however, he would probably have noticed the grim smiles that stretched on the Greengrasses' lips.