Book One: Astoria Greengrass and the Muggle-Born Slytherin

Full summary:

Astoria was doodling constellations on a piece of parchment when Malfoy so politely kicked her chair. She slowly looked over her shoulder, trying to keep herself from saying something nasty to him.

The year is 1994, and the Triwizard Tournament is coming to Hogwarts the same year as Astoria Greengrass. She might have lucked out and tested into her year, but she has as much trouble keeping up with her marks as she does with Draco Malfoy's unending comments.

Astoria comes across a bit too formal and nerdy and has trouble making large groups of friends. Yet she quickly befriends Rhiannon Clarke, the only Muggle-born Slytherin on the record. The two might be coming from completely different backgrounds, but they're as inseparable as can be. It would help, though, if Draco didn't treat Rhiannon like some sort of public hazard. It wasn't like You-Know-Who was around, right?

Info & Book One content warnings:

Hi! This is my longfic series, which I will be posting whenever I have time to fight the formatting. It focuses on Astoria, and is a veeerrry slow-burn Drastoria. I tried to stay close to the Books 1-7 canon. Perhaps a "canon companion" more so than "canon compliant." The Muggle-Born Slytherin takes place during The Goblet of Fire.

-Child abuse (referenced), bigotry & prejudice, death, language

-Book One is rated T, but subsequent series content is rated up to M.

Song recs:

Prologue - "Fellow in the North" by Cold Weather Company
Chapter 1 - "Just A Girl" by No Doubt

Prologue

During the dreadful reign of Muggle King Charles I, a warlock named Quennell established what is today one of the greatest Wizarding families in England. Though not as ancient as several other Wizarding families, Quennell's clan has best endured. After three centuries, his descendants became known as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood Wizarding families — the Greengrasses.

The Greengrasses have their own family legend about their ancestor. It recalls that Quennell had once saved the forest in which he had built his humble home from the fires of a great dragon. As recompense for his struggle, a dryad of the forest promised that all members in his family would have at least two descendants so long as each couple marry on the Vernal Equinox, a time of affluence, fertility, and renewal. Quennell himself married on that day, as did his children and their children, and so forth. In his old age, he built something of a palace in his blessed forest with all of the wealth that the large family continued to acquire. The eccentric legend has become something of a family joke; the auspicious wedding date might have been proven false at some point, yet the problem remains that no one ever remembers exactly how or when. Manifestly, Greengrasses who marry on the Vernal Equinox do seem to have at least two children, and thus the tradition stands. For the sake of convenience and keeping in touch, the Greengrasses hold a magnificent celebration every March in Quennell Park in East Sussex. During this week-long celebration surrounding the Equinox, couples are wed, family records are written, and banquets, balls, and games take place. Indeed, the family sees no end of their lineage in the farthest sight.

Similarly prominent families established as early as the tenth century have greatly declined over the ages, for as they tried to keep their bloodlines "intact" by marrying other old families, they have consequently left only a few families unrelated. Blood supremacism led to a refusal to marry not only non-pure-bloods, but also any member of a family which contains a member who did so. This was the downfall of these ancient families. The case was different with the Greengrasses, who were wont to marry members of other Wizarding families that were considered "blood traitors." As a result, the Greengrasses were shunned from the rest of the Wizarding families for much of history until the last century when they became desirous. After all, they still remain wealthy pure-bloods with no history of inbreeding.

However, the Greengrasses refused to wed those who held blood status in higher regards than they did love. They continued as they had all along, marrying blood-traitor families and gaining more and more prominence as their number increased. With the decline of the notorious Black family near the turn of the twentieth century, it became evident that the Wizarding families could no longer shun the Greengrasses as they had done historically. It was said that "A Greengrass is a special sort of weed and spreads as such," and it was unwise to be their enemies.

To compare the families, the legacies of Renfrew Greengrass and Cygnus Black show a most dramatic difference. Renfrew Greengrass IX married Meira Mosby in 1949 at the age of twenty-five, whilst Cygnus Black III was forced to marry Druella Rosier, a rare unrelated pure-blood from France, in 1951 at the age of thirteen. To Renfrew IX and Meira Greengrass were born Thalie, Faunus IX, Adam XIV, and Laureline. To Cygnus III and Druella Black were born Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa.

In the late sixties, whilst his family was on holiday, young Adam Greengrass met and fell in love with Estelle Ciel, one of five children of a prominent French family. Estelle, who was very much in love with Adam as well, came to stay in England shortly after. At the Greengrasses' famous Vernal Equinox celebration, sisters Andromeda and Narcissa Black met Estelle and found she spoke no English. Being bilingual, they taught her English when she returned that summer and in the summer of the following year.

The friendships did not last long. Andromeda was disowned by the Black family in 1970 for marrying a Muggle-born wizard, and war broke out that same year. Estelle left for France, whilst Adam and his immediate family remained in England. The war, later known as the First Wizarding War, had an "eye of the storm" moment in the mid-1970s in which the situation calmed briefly before the worst would arrive. During this time, many couples wed — some believed that getting married would be the last thing they would do, and some were right. Narcissa Black wed Lucius Malfoy II. Estelle returned to marry Adam on the moment of the Equinox: 20 March 1976, at 11:50 A.M. precisely.

Only three years later, the Greengrasses received a distressed letter from an unexpected writer. Narcissa Malfoy warned the couple that they must leave the country if they did not intend on following the rising Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, for he was beginning to massacre those in opposition to him. Stricken with fear, Adam and Estelle, who were expecting a child, fled to France to stay with Estelle's family. The couple's first daughter, Daphne Alecia, was born on 12 August 1980. After the fall of Voldemort in 1981, a large group of Greengrasses who had fled the country began to return to England. Adam and Estelle returned in time to have their second daughter, Astoria Nesrine, who was born on 16 January 1982. The two girls would later attend school with Narcissa and Lucius's only child, Draco.

Thus, the two families have begun a new chapter.

Chapter One

Ascribed Statuses

Adam Greengrass had his work cut out for him. With hands all too grizzled for a man of his status, he pushed aside a stack of children's textbooks and lit his pipe. Just a few moments for himself. He wondered if his wife, Estelle, had allowed herself to take breaks like this over the past year of home-schooling their younger daughter. Surely she had — she was in charge of more subjects than he was. Estelle was accustomed to the chore, though, having been a volunteer tutor for children in St Mungo's for eight years. Adam's passion, however, was working for the Committee on Experimental Charms. It was not out of necessity that he worked.

In his youth, Adam had basked in the spotlight placed on the Greengrass family. He always did his best in school so that his parents would talk about him at social gatherings. He had loved impressing the adults. He had loved how people had nothing better to do than to read about what was happening in the great Greengrass house. Witches wanted to dress like his mother. Wizards tried to buy the same brands as his father. What broomsticks are those Greengrass children using? Perhaps they could stain the woods on their own children's broom handles to match those of the Greengrass children…

Then the war came, and the family scattered across the continent. When they all came back to England, the public's attention was mostly held by gossip rather than respect. Laureline Greengrass married Salomon Kippling, a Squib. Adam's first daughter, Daphne, was not born a British citizen. Those Greengrasses were coming out of the war so safe and sound when the rest of the community went through the worst! And why hadn't Adam's younger daughter, Astoria, gone to school? Could she be yet another Squib in the Greengrass lineage?

For as much hilarity it provided bored empty-nesters, having Astoria at home was often more trouble than it was worth. The girl badly wanted to go to school, and every time Adam or Estelle had to explain to her that she truly wasn't ready, it only hurt her more. Astoria had been the classic late-bloomer in witchcraft: as a baby, she showed no signs of magic, but once it became apparent she was not a Squib, it also became apparent that she could not channel her magic well. When she was eleven, the family was in Ollivander's for nearly an hour while the old fellow tried to convince them that a completely incompatible wand had chosen her. Silver lime wood! The nerve of that man. Ollivander must have been trying to sell them the most expensive wand in the shop with no consideration of Astoria's needs. She ended up with a beautiful cherry wand instead; although, the truth was the wand didn't matter. It seemed to take her twice the time to cast a spell as her peers regardless of what she held in her hand.

Sometimes, Astoria would cast a different spell than what she intended. Adam tended to act as a guard during tutoring, keeping his wand drawn if Astoria should cast a spell that went out of control. Astoria soon developed a pathological need to prove herself to her parents that burned more furiously each time Daphne returned home from Hogwarts with mediocre marks in her classes. Astoria viewed herself as the smarter sister who was kept from school due to concerns about her safety. Adam and Estelle could not emphasise enough to her that the problem was not her weakness but instead her unpredictability.

Astoria overtaxed herself at home. She began to turn even her hobbies in astronomy and music into work relevant to school. Adam tried to cover as much material as Astoria could consume, since she was constantly haunted by how long it took her to cast spells. She might as well have been at Hogwarts all this time for as little as Adam and Estelle saw her outside of lessons. Astoria needed socialised in a way that life at the isolated Quennell Park could not provide her. Adam knew that Astoria did not belong at home throughout her years of schooling. Daphne considered it playing favouritism, and Astoria believed it unfair.

Adam found his fingers on the edges of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3. It was the middle of August, and he had yet to create a lesson plan for his daughter. He wished she knew how proud he was of her all along, but she only seemed to accept herself if she was "ahead." Adam set the book aside. Books always seemed to distance his relationship with her. Perhaps he could teach her something useful, just one more time, before he told his wife what they needed to do.

It was four months before Astoria's thirteenth birthday, but she didn't feel very grown up. She was only just now going to Hogwarts, something her sister did as soon as she had turned eleven. Astoria stared at her three suitcases blankly, not knowing what was ahead of her, only knowing that she wanted it.

"Do you really need three suitcases, Astoria?" asked Daphne. Blonde curls, bright blue eyes, and smooth skin were hard porcelain on Daphne when they were soft features on their mother.

"If I remember correctly, you brought five to Hogwarts in your first year," Astoria said, poking Daphne's arm.

"I didn't want to be ill-prepared. I bet two of those suitcases are for your hair products alone," mocked Daphne.

"No, just one," said Astoria, not catching the insult. She did have a lot of hair after all. It was a dark brunette hue and naturally wavy, but not the "correct" sort of wavy by any means. Usually, she liked to tame her hair into ringlets or her own version of a pouf. Daphne tended to tease Astoria about her old-fashioned hairstyles, but Astoria thought they looked cute. She was more self-conscious about having the earthy features of her father, with green eyes, thick eyebrows, and an uneven complexion. All of this was considered quite pretty by her family, but being nearly thirteen made it hard to see what they saw.

Daphne was reading the report on Astoria's exam results, which Astoria had received the previous week. Her father had procured both the first-year and second-year exams so that she may receive credit for all of the work she had done. Astoria had tried to approach it positively, but two exams for almost every subject had been more daunting than she had anticipated. Although she would be permitted to enter as a third-year, her barely-average mark in second-year Transfiguration loomed over her. The thought of going in a year ahead was scary when she had never officially "gone" to school in the first place.

"I'm going to laugh when you get retained in Transfiguration after being accelerated," Daphne said, scanning her sister's results. "So, what is this 'extra credit' on your Astronomy mark?"

"The astronomy professor wrote a letter to Maman and Father saying that I exceeded the expectations on the second-year exam. I had completed the celestial map they gave me, so she said I would be much farther ahead in class. I filled it out to help myself remember the constellations and deep-sky objects we needed to know on the test, so it took me longer, but I guess it paid off! The image was in my mind, so I just put—"

"That's nice," said Daphne, a bit annoyed. "You'll be a good student then."

"Maman and Father are excellent teachers," said Astoria.

On the first of September, Daphne and Astoria boarded the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station after hugging their parents goodbye for what seemed like an hour. Astoria was so excited that she had to force herself not to skip along the train platform as she went to board the train. Daphne went to sit with her fourth-year friends, so Astoria sat next to an unthreatening-looking girl who was clutching a book and sitting alone. She seemed like a much better pick than the flock of girls who were making fun of the people hugging their family goodbye on the platform.

"Hello," Astoria said.

"Oh, erm, hello." said the girl in a distinctly Cockney accent.

She made room for Astoria to sit next to her but did not make eye contact. Astoria saw that the girl's plump face was red and that her eyes were moist.

"Are you okay?" Astoria asked, since it was the polite thing to do.

Astoria didn't expect the first person she met to be crying. She was almost angry with the girl for ruining her good mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The girl tilted her head to the group of girls sitting across from them. They had turned their attention away from the window to snigger and point at her.

"They wrote on me textbook," she said.

She showed Astoria her copy of A History of Magic. Scribbled on the front of the book was the word "Mudblood." Astoria stared at the word for a moment. She did not know how to respond.

"It's not like it's the first time I been called that — I just never had it written before, y'know? You get used to it after a while, but… wait, what's wrong with you?"

The girl defensively scooted away from Astoria, who was making a very stunned face.

"Oh, that's okay. I—" Astoria stuttered.

Astoria had never actually spoken with a Muggle-born before. Her family was not prejudiced of Muggle-borns, but Astoria had never encountered one. As a result, she was lacking in cultural understanding. What was she supposed to say in the face of such a slur? Was it best to just listen to what the girl said? Astoria knew that her sister was not too fond of Muggle-borns, but Daphne never seemed to have any decent reason. Their parents had always taught them that Muggle-borns are equally apt at magic as anyone born into a Wizarding family, and that distinctions like that should never be made when meeting new friends.

"My name is Astoria Gr—"

She stopped herself from saying her family name. The girl might not feel comfortable with Astoria if she knew she was a pure-blood.

"My name is Astoria."

The red-faced girl put the textbook face down, trying to forget about it.

"My name's Rhiannon Clarke. I'm a third-year," she said, pushing her strawberry-blonde fringe out of her eyes. Her tears became much more noticeable.

"Me too," said Astoria. "I was home-schooled for a year, but it counted as two I guess."

"That's pretty neat," said Rhiannon. "I obviously couldn't be home-schooled."

She made a face at her textbook, as though it had called her the name itself.

"It's not that fun. I was with my parents all day, every day! And yet they complained I never spent time with them."

"Wonder what that's like," mumbled the girl.

Astoria, though still uncertain about conversing with a Muggle-born for fear that she would say the wrong thing, was pleased with herself for meeting a friend, or at least someone to talk to on the train. Rhiannon was telling Astoria about what her second year at Hogwarts was like when Daphne magically appeared next to their seat. Actually, she didn't use magic, for she could not legally use Apparition until turning seventeen and getting a licence. Daphne was just really good at sneaking up on people.

"Sis, why…?" she said, making a concerned face.

"This is Rhiannon, Daphne," Astoria said.

"Daphne's your blister‽" Rhiannon exclaimed.

"My—?"

"Your sister! She's your sister?"

Astoria knew this was not going to go well. Had Daphne bullied Rhiannon? Astoria knew that her sister could be something of a — well, sometimes Daphne was just a mean person. But to Astoria's surprise, Rhiannon acted quite happy.

"To think, Daphne Greengrass's sister treated me like a human being!" she smirked.

Daphne's eyes were like broken crystal, and her composure disappeared. Students Astoria had not even met were already watching her events play out, making assumptions.

"Astoria! What do you think you're doing talking to a—?"

"I can talk to whomever I want," Astoria said firmly. "I'm so sorry, Rhiannon."

"'S'all right."

Daphne shook her head. "Come on, Astoria, I want you to meet the girls in my dorm."

Astoria had never been one to listen to her older sister, but for some reason Rhiannon nodded her along. Maybe there was something Rhiannon wanted Astoria to know about Daphne's roommates. It might give Astoria a clue as to why Daphne was acting so, well… racist.

As the sisters were shuffling their way past the kids who put their feet in the walkway, Daphne hissed furiously, "Why would you talk to a Mudblood?"

"I didn't know she was a Muggle-born when I sat down," Astoria said.

"Oh," Daphne chirped, somehow expecting a kindred spirit out of her baby sister.

"Do you know why I didn't know?" Astoria continued.

"…What? Huh?"

"I didn't know because it makes no difference," Astoria said, frustrated.

"Of course it makes a difference!" Daphne convinced herself.

"Rhiannon uses magic like anybody else does, Daphne! And Muggles aren't stupid. They went into outer space without our help! Maman and Father would be awfully disappointed with you for associating the family name with prejudice."

"They aren't here, are they?" snorted Daphne.

Astoria knew better than to reason with her sister any more. Being in Slytherin must have changed her feeble attitudes. Astoria might not have been comfortable with talking to Rhiannon out of fear of a misunderstanding, but Daphne was completely misguided. She was not coming from a good place in her heart, if there was one left.

"I'll never know how that girl got into Slytherin," Daphne complained in a manner that sounded like she was rehearsing a line from a play.

"She's in Slytherin?" asked Astoria. She knew that Slytherins were mostly pure-bloods, or at least half-bloods. In fact, she learned from her father that until the 1920s, all Slytherins were pure-bloods. At the present, a Muggle-born in Slytherin was like a dementor at a wedding reception to those who believed in blood purity.

"Yes. I think it's stupid," grumbled Daphne.

"Well, she must have the traits of a Slytherin student."

"Yes, but she's missing a big one, wouldn't you say?"

"I wouldn't, actually."

Daphne turned and gave Astoria a stern look, sat down next to her group, and made a seat for Astoria. Astoria put on her best smiling façade, the kind she used when distant relatives thought she was three or four years younger than she was.

"These are my friends, Tracey and Millicent."

"Nice to meet you," Astoria said, shaking their hands.

"This is Sally-Anne, and this is Pansy."

Astoria shook Sally-Anne's hand, and assumed that the painful clutch Pansy gave counted as something of a handshake. The girl's gruff manner had caught Astoria's attention. She had chin-length brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a sneer across her face. She hadn't shaken a hand in her life.

"You're the slow one, right?" Pansy asked Astoria.

One strike against her, thought Astoria.

"She can't help it she was a little sluggish," said Daphne. "She's all caught up."

"Guess she couldn't help talking to a Mudblood, either," remarked Pansy. "I saw her."

Two strikes against her, thought Astoria.

Daphne glared at Astoria yet again, embarrassed by her for no good reason.

"So where do you think you'll get sorted?" asked Pansy.

"I'm not sure. My father was a Ravenclaw," Astoria said.

"I was thinking you'd be in Hufflepuff!" Pansy laughed derisively.

Three strikes. Astoria hated Pansy.

Now, Astoria did not see anything wrong with Hufflepuff, but she knew an insult when she heard one. At least this time she did.

"Hi, Greg, Vince." said Pansy's stupid voice in a stupid tone. Four young men entered their compartment. The first two, one very tall and the other very wide, sat down near the group of girls.

"Hello, Blaise. Hello, Draco." said Pansy's stupid voice in an even more stupid tone. This pair appeared more gentlemanly.

"You won't believe the dress robes Weasley's brought. Go take a look and try not to laugh," said the blond one to Pansy, who smirked and said, "I can imagine right now."

"We thought we'd meet your sister," said the one that Astoria thought was Blaise.

"Oh," said Daphne with a nervous laugh. She nudged Astoria rather roughly. "This is she."

Astoria greeted the four warily. She looked at each member of the group and recited their names in her head. She believed she had them all correct.

Tracey: the short girl with a bright smile,

Millicent: the larger, intimidating one,

Sally-Anne: the one with freckles and glasses,

Pansy: that nasty thing sitting across from Daphne,

Greg: big shoulders, big head,

Vince: buzz cut, shorter and rounder than Greg,

Blaise: tall, dark, handsome, but not quite as handsome as…

"Draco."

"What?" Draco asked.

Astoria realised that she had said his name aloud.

"Erm, nice to meet you." It was the only thing she could think to say. He gave her a perplexed look and said, "Nice to meet you, too."

As Astoria went to sit down, she was tripped by Pansy, who laughed in cruel amusement.

"Whoa, Pansy, that's Daphne's sister, you know," chuckled Draco.

Pansy grabbed Draco's arm. "I just thought I'd have a little fun, Draco," she whined.

He rolled his cold grey eyes and offered his hand to Astoria, who still was on the floor and grimacing from the pain in her leg. She took his hand and got up in her seat, and though she wanted to hold his hand longer, she thought it would be in her best interest to let go. Astoria couldn't seem to stop looking at him. He was attractive, and he had at least helped her get up. She would have been more embarrassed if she had tripped over nothing. If Pansy hadn't tripped her, she wouldn't have held his hand and—

Draco sat down next to Pansy, who really took his hand.

Great, Astoria thought. That's the end of that. She decided to go back to her seat with Rhiannon, but Draco started talking to her.

"So you're going into your second year?" he asked, unlacing his fingers from Pansy's, though still permitting her to lean on him.

"No," Astoria said. "Third year. I was home-schooled."

"Daphne told me her magic was really slow," Pansy told Draco on the side.

"Do you think you'll be in Slytherin?" he continued.

"I'm not really sure," said Astoria.

Currently her only friend was in that House, but if Astoria was going to receive as much trouble as Rhiannon, was it worth it?

"I think she'll be in Hufflepuff," Pansy smirked. "She's friends with that Clarke girl, you know."

Draco looked surprised.

"Really…" he said slowly. "You're friends with a Mudblood?"

Astoria was disgusted. She should have known Draco would be exactly like Pansy.

"Yes. Yes, I am," she said, standing up in front of him.

He huffed, "Why? Hopeless filth — that's what they are."

"F-Filth?" Astoria repeated, dumbfounded that people really talked this way out in the real world. "You're speaking about another person, you know! I bet she's better at magic than some of the pure-bloods I've met."

She finally pushed past her sister's crew to sit next to Rhiannon again.

"I met an absolute idiot," she said in a falsely bright tone to Rhiannon as she struggled to sit down whilst the train turned on the tracks.

"Was he cute?" asked Rhiannon knowingly.

"I — well, I suppose he was... He had a nasty girlfriend who's apparently friends with my sister."

"Pansy and Draco? I mean, you could say he's somethin' for the eyes, but he's rank inside."

"What bothers me is that he was fairly nice to me before the blood purity thing came up."

"Funny, I didn't think he cared about anyone but himself and his daddy."

Astoria laughed. "His daddy? He sounds like my sister."

"Yeah, Draco's spoiled rotten. He's always threatening everyone by saying he'll tell on us to dear daddy."

Rhiannon scrunched her face up and mocked Draco, "'My father can get you kicked out of Slytherin!'"

"What did he say that for?" Astoria asked.

"I kinda put a curse on him when he called me a Mudblood last year," said Rhiannon shiftily.

"What was the curse?"

"Calvorio," said Rhiannon, giggling. "Makes your hair fall out. As you saw, it didn't work. He's still got his silken streams of platinum blond glory."

"Oh well," smiled Astoria. "You probably would be in real trouble if it had worked!"

Once the train stopped to let the students off at Hogsmeade, Astoria remembered that she should be excited about school. She had looked forward to it for so long, but after the train ride, she was not so enthusiastic. Rhiannon was in Slytherin, and Astoria was concerned about what her own House would be. Her mind was wandering away as she stood on a platform near the lake. She could see lightning in the clouds above her, and thunder rumbled in the distance. What a lovely time to be by a large body of water. As third years started getting into the carriages, Astoria heard her name being called from an unwelcome voice. It wasn't her first name; only a very impatient-sounding "Greengrass!"

Pansy and Draco stepped into view. Astoria couldn't think of any two people she wanted to see less.

"That Hagrid oaf gave me a message to give to you. He couldn't find you with you being so short. It's from Dumbledore," said Pansy, waving a crumpled piece of parchment. She tossed the note upon a breeze to Astoria. "Good news, really," she said drily.

"You read my letter?" asked Astoria.

She could not think of any good reason why a staff member would hand off a letter to someone like Pansy. Astoria stared her down. Perhaps Pansy had swiped it off of him.

"Got a problem?" threatened Pansy. Astoria ignored her threat and unfolded the letter. It was difficult to read in the soft light from Pansy's lamp.

To Astoria Greengrass

From Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster

Dated the first of September, nineteen-hundred and ninety four

Student entrance

Miss Greengrass,

Your home-schooling has placed you in third-year classes for the 1994-1995 school year, with one exception.

Astoria cringed as she expected to be stuck in first-year Transfiguration. She would have to repeat all the work she had done at home, and on top of that, face Pansy. She read on:–

You have been placed in fourth-year Astronomy at the request of Professor Aurora Sinistra. This placement will be probationary for your first academic year, as top marks are required to maintain advanced placement. Enter the school with the first-year students in order to attend the Sorting Ceremony with them. Choose your elective courses (two minimum) after the Sorting Ceremony. Proceed to your House afterward.

Best regards and congratulations,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Astoria was amazed and excited that she would be going into fourth-year Astronomy. She smiled at the thought that she had had so much education in one year's time and still managed. She certainly owed it all to her parents. Of course, she would have been even happier if Pansy wasn't in view. Even still, Astoria muttered a "thank you" for the letter. Pansy failed to say "you're welcome," and left that responsibility to Draco.

"Have fun in Hufflepuff. They'll find out that watching a Greengrass cast a spell is like watching grass grow!" sneered Pansy as she turned to walk away.

"Have fun being a bitch," spat Astoria suddenly.

Astoria had never sworn aloud before, as that was mostly Daphne's inclination, but she didn't have any time to dwell on it before she realised she was underwater. Pansy had grabbed Astoria's shoulders with her dreadfully thick hands and had shoved her into the dark, cold waters of the lake. Then again, Astoria didn't have enough time to swim to the surface by herself before she was pulled out of the water. Pansy was holding one arm and Draco, the other. It wasn't exactly regret that had overcome Pansy. It was mostly the fear of getting into trouble deeper than the water.

"Now I'll tell you I didn't mean to push you if you tell me you didn't mean to call me a bitch," she hissed. "Daphne doesn't need to know about this."

"We both meant to do what we did," said Astoria stiffly. She was not going to be pushed around just because she was a good bit smaller than Pansy. Nor because she was freezing.

Pansy let out a raspy, cough-like sound and stormed off. Astoria's left arm still had pain in it from where Pansy had tugged her out of the water, and her right arm had a bothersome sensation from where Draco was still holding it. She forced her arm free and was perfectly comfortable giving him dirty looks then.

"Pansy has a short temper," he said. "I'm sure she didn't mean to do that, since you're her best friend's sister, after all."

Draco quickly used a Hot-Air charm to dry off Astoria, saying, "Don't get hypothermia before class even starts. That would be ridiculous."

With emotionless thanks, Astoria stood up and started running to catch up with the last of the first-years. She was put in a small boat with three other kids and managed to drown out their voices until they began worrying about their new school.

"I wonder…"

"I heard that…"

"I thought…"

"What if…?"

Astoria knew that even though she was going in as a third-year, this was her first year at school as well as theirs. She would probably have no clue where to go in the big old castle. She would have trouble making more friends. Would Rhiannon mind if she stayed close to her, or would it seem clingy? Would it make Daphne bully her even more? She did not have time to worry about every little thing, though. Before she knew it, she had followed the younger group into Hogwarts Castle and was standing in the warmth of the Great Hall with too many people to count.