Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Leave A Tender Moment Alone	By : Spurge_Laurel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 5908 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I make no money from this hobby.

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Sometimes, Astoria Greengrass was scared of her sister. But mostly, she was scared for her.

Astoria had to grow up quickly, her mother dying during her birth, her father grieving and scrambling to return their House to its previous luster lost during the Blood War, and her elder sister being completely disassociated with the real world. No matter how smart Daphne thought she was, she just didn’t seem to get anything. Or maybe she just didn’t care.

At first, the younger Greengrass had been enamored with her sibling. Would follow her everywhere and try to act just like her. What else could she have done? Daphne was the only living thing she saw for more than an hour a day other than the elves, so it was only natural that she’d want to emulate her only role model. But Daphne was the opposite of a warm person, and the more Astoria followed in her footsteps, the more she found the cold creeping into her insides.

The cold disregard for the world around her and for all the people in it. The negation of any joy and the absence of any interest in anything beyond her own personal ambitions. Not even her family was spared from this, as Astoria noticed through interactions between her father and sister.

That was not what she wanted. She confronted Daphne about her actions, spoke to her about her concerns, and spread her arms open in request of a comforting hug. But Daphne simply scoffed.

“I don’t listen to brats. Come back when you’re someone useful.”

Since then, Astoria kept her distance from her sister. That was the point she had learned that though they might be sisters by blood, that was the only bond they shared. When Daphne was eleven and left for Hogwarts, Astoria let out a sigh of relief. The whole manor felt lighter and more cheerful without her presence. She didn’t even return for Yule, leaving Astoria and their father to celebrate alone at home. That was the nicest gift Astoria had ever received from her sister.

And then those ten blessed months came to an end, and Daphne returned to Greengrass manor, worse than ever before.

“I got used to being left alone by pointless people and their pointless minutia. Don’t speak to me.”

Astoria knew that if he could get away with it, their father would teach her the ways of House Greengrass instead, despite her being the younger sibling. But none of the other Lords would accept it. It would break tradition. The inheritance of titles always passed through the senior line. And in truth, without the promise of siring the next generation of Greengrasses and tying their houses together for all time, her father would have a terribly hard time finding a match for Daphne.

At least, that’s what she’d thought before going to Hogwarts herself and seeing the way all the boys looked at her sister. Even the ones not in Slytherin. Yes, her sister was aesthetically pleasing, no denying that, but did none of them see the monster hiding beneath? She would chew any of them up and spit them back up. That was, if anyone were actually brave enough to approach her apart from that Davis girl who someone never got burned, no matter how much she played with fire.

Hogwarts was an experience. Mostly a scary one, but knowing that Harry Potter was there did comfort her a lot. She grew up reading stories about the Boy-Who-Lived, but none of them really did him justice. He was even more of a hero than in the books! He even helped her out with a Charms assignment when he saw her struggling in the library, still alone and unable to make friends from within the shadow of her sister’s reputation.

She watched him dominate the Tri-Wizard Tournament, completely overshadowing his competitors, the seeker from Drumstrang and the Veela from Beauxbatons, despite being three years younger. Astoria never did get the story of how he managed to get his name into the Goblet of Fire, but seeing the way he flew rings around that dragon and get the golden egg in the first task without so much as a scratch silenced any of his doubters.

The younger Greengrass sister was not ashamed that she carried a torch for the last Potter throughout her Hogwarts years. She didn’t know a girl who didn’t, and even most guys she spoke to admitted to the same. The only one she knew who didn’t care was Daphne. Even Draco Malfoy was obsessed with him. Both infatuated and spiteful at once.

Then the Dark Lord returned, and a black spell was cast over the British Isles. But still, Harry never lost his smile or the skip in his step, even as he stopped Death Eater raids between classes. Oh, it was never proven that it was him, and it should have been impossible for him to travel from Hogwarts to all those places so quickly, but it couldn’t have been a coincidence that everytime the Prophet covered one of the attacks, all the Death Eaters were found stunned and tied up next to a sign declaring that “POTTƎR WUZ HERE.”

Everything seemed to be going okay until Hogwarts itself was attacked. Astoria wasn’t aware of all the details, but from what she had pieced together, the Dark Lord couldn’t afford to take anymore losses without being discredited and so gambled on one big assault on his two major enemies, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. If he managed to kill the both of them, or even just one, the blow to public morale would be such that he’d have no trouble strolling into the Ministry and taking over.

Despite being a second daughter, Astoria had been taught the ways of House Greengrass and knew that her family had gotten to where it was by staying neutral and not involving itself in the disputes of others. This didn’t win them many friends, but though they never got any share of the victor’s spoils, they also never suffered with the losers. That was the way of House Greengrass for over a millenia, and one of the first things she had ever been taught. Keep your head down and your eyes forwards. Regardless of who wins, the Wizarding World would need to rebuild, and House Greengrass would be there.

But her ancestors had never met Harry Potter. He was a force of nature, a swirling storm of power that raged this way and that seemingly at random. There was no way to be in the presence of Harry Potter without falling into orbit around him, trying to hold on desperately as your world was shaken upside down. And then he would leave, as abruptly as he came, and you’d find yourself with your feet back on solid ground, and all the things that troubled you before not seeming so bad anymore.

It was a magical experience, and Astoria only wished that would come back to her again. But she was not so selfish as to demand his attention to herself when there were so many people who needed his help, and so much good he could do. Still, a girl could have her fantasies.

So when the call came out that the castle was being evacuated, but any volunteers who wished to help fight would be welcome, the youngest Greengrass did not even hesitate to raise her wand in defense of her school. And she was not alone, most of the students fourth year and above did the same, from all four houses. Of course, she was not placed on the frontline, having no combat experience, but she still had a great view of the duel between Harry and the Dark Lord Voldemort.

She watched as the most powerful wizard of the previous generation faced off against the most powerful of hers, two titans so attune with their magic that the air visibly rippled around them, the ground shaking from the pressure. She watched as the Boy-Who-Lived performed a feat of magic so incredible even Dumbledore later admitted to not being able to reproduce it, and then the Dark Lord was no more. She was among the first to run out and hug the Man-Who-Conquered while the surviving Death Eaters fell to their knees in surrender. He even hugged her back, and called her by name, despite having not spoken to her in years.

Astoria knew then that Harry Potter was the single most incredible wizard to have ever lived, and she would hear no words to the contrary. She still harbored fantasies of being with him, her crush only growing stronger, but she also felt she wasn’t good enough.

Later, when her father told her that Daphne was going to marry Harry, she laughed. She laughed and laughed and laughed even as tears gushed from her eyes and her stifled sobs shook her whole body.

The selfish side of her felt it was unfair. Why should her mean, emotionless, and spiteful sister get to marry Harry! Her sister that didn’t even fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, being too cowardly and self serving to ever think of anyone but herself!

The caring side of her felt it was unfair. There was no way either Daphne or Harry would be happy in such a match, they were just too different! Daphne would try something crazy, and then either Harry would be forced to retaliate or let her succeed out of some misguided intention to free her. Either the wizarding world would lose its hero—she would lose her hero—or she would lose her only sister, estranged as she was.
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Leave A Tender Moment Alone