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DRACO WAS SLEEPING next to her.
Astoria smiled at the sight of how peaceful he looked when he was asleep.
It was one o'clock in the morning and they spent the whole night talking to each other. He talked about his family for a while in which she listened. It always made her sad of what his family is going through. It pained her to think such a broken boy would have to go through that and could withstand that.
Richard
Richard Van Daskni. Best friend. Her parent's bestfriend's son. And her fiancée. She remembered everything about Richard. About the way, his golden hair always shimmered against the light when they were children and his soft smile always made her feel better on a hard day.
She remembered being only twelve when they were arranged for marriage. When, she was so excited to marry her best friend. She remembered, having a fake wedding with him when she was only five and how they promised to love each other forever.
But that night, she remembered when the light in his eyes were gone and how he slapped Astoria in the face.
"No! You are nothing Astoria! I cannot marry you!" He screamed at her, his figure overpowering her. He swing his fist at her and hissed that she was so ugly and useless.
She remembered her tears and when she had to pack up for Hogwarts the next day. She knew why she was dark and her eyes had no more light when she sat on the stool after her name was called by McGonagall.
"Astoria Greengrass!" She called and the whole Slytherin table grinned, knowing she would be in their house since Daphne, her older sister, was there as well.
The Greengrass family were also a famous pure-blood family, among the Malfoy's. Although they stay out of trouble, they were as scheming as the Black's.
The Gryffindors sneered at Astoria as she walked up the cold steps and sat on the stool. Before the Sorting Hat was placed on her head she looked out onto the crowd. She earned smiles from Slytherin, happy faces from Hufflepuff, rambunctious eyes from Ravenclaw and glares from Gryffindor.
Once she felt the soft material lay on her brown hair, the hat assumed its position.
"Ah, Greengrass." It said. "I know where to put you-"
And she immediately thought Slytherin before the hat stopped at his words.
"Oh, but what is this? I see smiles, kindness and an eager heart. Not Gryffindor, you are brave at heart but only that. You have intelligence for any Ravenclaw but you are too cunning at heart. Hmmmm. Hufflepuff and Slytherin might do for you but which one shall I choose?"
The hate sat there for another three minutes, the other students growing a little curious but kept their mouth shut nonetheless. This was a pure blood Greengrass and the hate was, what, taking long? This was going to be good. The last time a Slytherin bound name was switched to an opposing house was Sirius Black, although he was burned off the family tree.
Astoria sat there, her spin stiffened and thought of Richard. How could he do is to her? She wanted the old part of him back, not this. She never wanted to return for any school breaks, her heart was too broken and dark for anything.
"Ah, but I see, although you are kind at heart, your mind posses the cunning and determination for any Slytherin. I know where to put you- SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat bellowed as the Slytherin table cheered and pounded their tables, happy for another member in their house.
The hat was placed off her head and the Ravenclaws dissed her while the Gryffindors sneered. The Hufflepuffs smiled at her and congratulated her as she walked down the steps and to her right to be by her house.
Daphne stood up, from her position of the middle of the table, and hugged her sister from behind. "Congratulations, sis." She whispered and Astoria faked a smile although she could not wait to get out.
From then on, she was hard and cold. She tripped fellow Gryffindors, pushed Ravenclaws and deliberately made fun of Hufflepuffs. She did not care, her heart was frozen.
But when she was forced to come back home during Yule break, she was less then eager. All the way home, her family praised Daphne for such a cunning and smart lady she had turned into, ignoring their perfect grades and scheming other daughter.
And when they visited the Van Daskni's, Richard was not the same. He apologized for his actions previously and said it was a phase. He forced a hug on her and she accepted, afraid to move and break such a perfect moment.
But later that night, he was the same. When she woken up with her leg broken, she claimed falling down the stairs and Richard supported the idea, later apologizing again. She did not care about him nor did he to her.
So, she went off.
Her parents refused to pay for a Hospital room in London -- even though they could pay for the whole bloody hospital -- and pressured her to suffer through her broken leg until it healed. Her first stop was a London Hospital in which she sold her mother's earrings which paid for the entire experience.
They gave her crutches and ordered her to use them for two weeks. She thought it was only a broken leg but they diagnosed her with depression as well. She was at the hospital for another two days, in which she met with a therapist. Her parents were furious and tried to keep her away from the media. She then blackmailed them, the only way for her not going to the media was letting her stay at the bloody hospital.
When she walked into the therapist's room, she sat down on the couch and laid down and simply talked.
She talked about anything and everything. The therapist just listened and it was exactly what she needed. Someone to just listen to her.
The woman at the office was kind enough to let Astoria and her travel around London and Glasgow to try to release her depression. She got parental acceptance -- mainly because Astoria blackmailed them -- and they were off to Scotland and around England.
Although, they were slow in England since Astoria had her crutches, once they hit Scotland, they were speedy fast and enjoyed the moment.
She remembered how happy she was with Mrs. Lauren, her therapist, and how she treated her like a mother and with her a daughter. Mrs. Lauren already knew about the wizarding world, herself a Hufflepuff, and it was nice to hear brilliant stories about Hogwarts teachers.
"I hear that Snape is teaching." She said, as she had a whipped cream mustache from Belgian hot chocolate from Glasgow. Astoria giggled and nodded her head, her green and gray scarf around her neck blocking the cold.
"Yes, many students are terrified of him, though. I find him as my favorite." She sipped the chocolate and Mrs. Lauren gave a thin smile and she wrapped her old gold and grey scarf around her neck.
"Snape was a fifth year when I was in Hogwarts. I remember how terrified I was of him but my older brother and his friends always helped me out." She responded.
They walked down the busy Christmas filled street in Glasgow. Later, they spotted a colorful ride the looked like rocket and decided to go on it. As the rocket slowly rose, Astoria turned to Mrs. Lauren, her hair blowing in the wind.
"What was your brothers name?" She asked.
Mrs. Lauren smiled before answering. "Remus."
And the following days to come, they played dress up in small boutiques, sipped some amazing chocolate and had tried so many new things and been to new places, her smile had finally reappeared on her face. It was then, towards the end of their adventure, she finally told Rena Lauren what had happened to her.
Rena was shocked and instantly held Astoria, crying along with her and prayed that everything would be okay. When she had to go home, the Greengrass parents were so mildly mad at their child on how she was kind to everyone and was always smiling.
She did not let them affect her and learned from Lauren that it was anyone's choice to be happy.
When she returned to school, she always wore a smile and apologized to those who she bullied in the past. That was when she earned the nickname as the weak slytherin.
"Look, Malfoy! It's the weakling!" She earned laughs and eventually Daphne, even let everyone know that they somehow were not even related.
"She is not my sister!" Everyone believed her for the sake of one of the highest Slytherins but Astoria did not care, she wore the smile anyway. People were always going to judge no matter what.
In her third year, she had just finished her last class before winter break when she got news from Dumbledore.
The headmaster redirected her to his office and she furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "What is it, professor?" Behind her, a tall blonde man appeared and next to him, a weird looking woman with purple hair.
"Who are they?" She turned back to Dumbledore who ran a hand against his face.
"Astoria, your mother and father have been in a car accident. And I hate to say this but-" Whaterver he said, she did not hear it. Everything was inaudible to her, even her cries. She felt like screaming but her tears drowned her out. And her heart sank as she cried all the way to the London Hospital where she saw Rena and her husband, John, slowly dying.
She both treated them like her own parents and even told the professors at her school that her parents were no longer by Greengrass name, but by Lauren name. She held both of their hands as they both struggled to speak, their breaths being taken for them by an machine.
John took off his mask for a minute. "Astoria, my darling." And it was as if all the sound in the world returned. She went close up to her dad, as he wiped her tears away. "Always be happy and kind, that's what I want from you. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met and, I love you. I could not have asked for a better daughter even if you do not think you are-" he was interrupted by his coughs and Astoria instantly put his mask back on and pushing his brown curls away from his forehead.
"I love you, dad. You will always be my father no matter what other people may think." She gave a soft kiss before turning to Rena.
A stream of tears were down her face as she gave a tight hug to her mother. "Mom.."
Rena tried smiling. Of course. The woman who is just about to die, could not bear to leave the world without showing another smile to her daughter. "Astoria, I love you so much. I want you, to listen to your father and be kind but also love. Love in a way in which your heart will always choose. Love in a way which your mind does not even need to stop you. People may want you to turn one direction to the right or left but if you feel as if your stuck, go straight. I want you to always trust your heart in what it wants and, please go after it." She was referring to Richard, she knew it.
And after Remus and Tonks went inside for an hour, three hours later, they both flatlined. Astoria never cried as hard as she did in one day as she did that day. She wailed and tried holding her heart together but it was broken. Even the tiny shards, were cut up to tiny microscopic pieces that she could not bare to try to hold in again.
At the funeral, Astoria went alone and did not allow anyone to touch her, herself to afraid to even move. She wanted to simply, drift away. To go back to the summer when she would stay at the Laurens' household for the summer and John would always make horrible food and Rena would take her out shopping.
"You crack the egg like this!" John exclaimed, happy as ever. He still smiled as the egg shells also dropped in and Astoria giggled. And when they tried his brownies, Rena switched them out -- when he was in the lou -- for store bought brownies. He exclaimed that he should quit his job at the Daily Prophet and become a baker due to his fantastic baking skills.
Rena nodded and supported him which Astoria always admired. Even if she did find love, would she ever measure up to this?
Astoria remembered John always being puzzled about what to get Rena in the Holiday season, or how they spent an entire week together camping and he even made a personal bedroom for her at their place.
She loved John as a father and Rena as a mother and they even took a family picture together. The Greengrass family were too ' busy ' to even notice their daughter changing but nonetheless, if her name was out of the paper, she was alright.
But she had lost the two most important people in the world, in fact the only people she cared about. But nonetheless, she listened to her parent's advice and continued living life the way she wanted it to be.
And now, Astoria store off into those dazzling night eyes. She always knew that her parents were looking down at her. And when she turned around to Draco her heart skipped a beat.
Love in a way your mind does not even need to stop you.
And she could not help but feel, she had found the one she was looking for all along.
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i debated over publishing this on tuesday night or friday. but I decided why not and have a double update so happy thanksgiving in about... forty six minutes! i hope you guys will have a wonderful day with your family and i will see you later!