A/N: So, this story primarily focuses on Hermione and Astoria's relationship. Honestly, I gave them some thought and something just clicked with me, and now I'm a little bit obsessed with their dynamic I've made. Tol, strong, war-heroine wife taking care of her smol, passionate, and hopelessly-infatuated-with-Hermione's muscles-wife? Yes. By golly, YES.
And here I am. Winging it, a skeleton-bare outline on my Docs to somewhat guide me, and a whole hecking dump truck of love for these two useless lesbians. Updates should come every other day since chapters will be shorter than some other works that I have set off for far too long, and just making this is a risk for me to get even MORE distracted but it'll be fine. There will be a slight possibility of art on my AO3 version (again, a very big risk), but no NSFW. Or smut. Because in this holy house of God, we only write fluff and ANGST. Which is your warning. Angst. A lot of it. There will be minor violence (after all, there is a war), but hopefully the rating will remain the same since my other fic has much, MUCH more gore and violence and deserves the M rating for those reasons. (So if you're into that go read it hint hint wink wink)
And, just a disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form.
There is death, though again, not gory, but I mean, this fic wouldn't be angsty if there wasn't any death so... No spoilers, buckle up, don't drink and drive and enjoy my Astoria/Hermione fic in this trying time!
Chapter 1: Glimpses
-oOo-
Hermione Granger had barely known her, at first. She remembered her name, particularly her last name, while she was sitting at her table Third Year as the newcomers were called up to be sorted. "Astoria Greengrass", she heard McGonagall announce. Hermione recognized the surname belonging to Daphne Greengrass and the Pure-Blooded lineage of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Hermione really wasn't surprised when the shout of "Slytherin!" came from the Sorting Hat.
Astoria, Hermione noticed, clung to her older sister and followed wherever she went, but still, for some odd reason, seemed uncomfortable when Daphne would meet up with Draco Malfoy and his group. Even while she and her friends Harry and Ron were constantly taunted and bullied by them, Astoria would inch away to the back of her group and hang her head low with her eyes trained on the floor as if it were more interesting than anything she had ever seen before.
They would often pass each other separately in the halls, and even though Daphne had the decency to keep quiet and spare them a passing glance, Astoria would sheepishly look up at them with her wide eyes, darting from person to person but lingering on Hermione.
She noticed how her sharp blue eyes seemed to be just a little too large, and her body a little too petite. Her flawless chocolate brown hair was always long, reaching the middle of her back while Hermione kept hers a little past her shoulders. When her arms managed to poke out of her long clothes, she noticed how thin her wrists were and couldn't imagine what the rest of her looked like in those too-big robes.
Oftentimes, when those moments came about, Astoria would be leaning against the wall, small and invisible to her sister's friends, but she would always look up at Hermione. It was strange, she thought, how she looked at her with such a childish infatuation plain in her eyes, as if Hermione were a famous model or had a facial defect. Her too-big eyes bugging out of her head as they just stared at each other was, Hermione felt, like an awkward, inward conversation rolling back and forth between the two of them that would end abruptly when Astoria was called along by her sister.
Hermione soon found her thoughts wandering to Astoria while she worked on essays and worksheets, worrying about if she was being starved or abused, even though she would overhear her talking about things her parents had written back to her with Daphne as they passed each other in the halls. She never spoke badly of her relationship with them, at least, from what she heard.
A part of her mind spoke to her how Astoria seemed different from her peers. More cheery, far less aggressive (even for the other kids at her age), and more of the smart, quiet type that anybody else in her house didn't seem to possess.
However, the rest of her year was caught up in manipulating time to help Sirius Black escape. She stopped trying so hard to sneak looks at Astoria, and hardly listened in on her conversations. If she was being honest with herself, it was rather creepy of her, as embarrassed as she was to admit it. After all, all she had were glimpses, and Astoria was just another pureblood.
A/N: This fic isn't a slowburn, for those wondering, but once we get into the domesticity of their relationship, things will slow down in terms of time jumps, chapter lengths, and possibly publishing dates. For now, the next three or so chapters should all be out by the end of this week.
Let's hope my procrastination leaves me the heck ALONE for once too :')
I hope you enjoyed this small first chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! Have a great week y'all! 3
~Eclipse