Chapter 7: In Which Astoria Greengrass Plays Matchmaker

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfic because…you know…I'm not a literary genius.

If one were to ask Roxanne Greengrass to describe her daughters, she would have a much easier time pointing out their differences instead of their similarities. In truth, the similarities would start and end with, "they are both cunning, love their family, and loyal to those they care about." Beyond that simple statement, her daughters could be as different as night and day. After giving many various answers for the differences between her daughters, Roxanne finally settled on describing Daphne as the realist and Astoria as the romantic. This classification seemed to define her daughters most clearly and concisely as possible. When explicitly asked about Astoria, Roxanne would describe her as gregarious, proud, and altruistic. Astoria Greengrass would agree with every word her mother said about her if she were old enough to know what the terms "gregarious" and "altruistic" meant. If Astoria Greengrass were required to describe herself, she would say "happy." If asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Astoria would quickly respond with the word "matchmaker."

Astoria decided at the early age of eight that she would like to be a matchmaker. She wanted to make people happy, and her favorite stories always ended with a wedding full of joy for the main characters. Night after night, her mother and she would read stories filled with drama and romance, heroism and daring, and nobility and adventure. She loved the classics, both magical and muggle. Her bookshelf not only sported well-known wizarding titles like "The Professor and the Potioneer," "A Midnight Broom Ride," and "Gnome Place Like Home," but also muggle titles like "Much Ado About Nothing," "Sense and Sensibility," and "Emma." As much as she loved the stories, she was never able to identify with the protagonist. Astoria Greengrass would not be a naïve woman searching for the love of a man. She would not be a woman who ignored the blatantly obvious love interest to enhance the story. No, if Astoria were to be like a character from her books, she would be the narrator. Astoria would be the one to guide others to their happy ending.

For a while, Astoria had no one to guide to their inevitable happy ending. She was home alone with her parents, who were already living happily ever after. This situation only lasted until the end of the school year when Daphne came back.

Daphne.

She would be the first benefactor of Astoria's life guidance. Daphne talked too much about her school work and too little about her social life. Sure, there was the odd story about the Gryffindor seeker catching the snitch with his mouth, a troll sneaking into the castle, and the house cup robbery pulled by the Gryffindors at the end of the year. However, aside from these stories, Daphne focused on her classes, her grades, and what she would learn next year. Astoria could not help but compare Daphne to some of her favorite heroines from her beloved stories. Daphne was only beginning her story and would need a guiding hand to see her through to her happily ever after.

Astoria's role as the narrator of Daphne's life would have to wait. Daphne was gone ten months out of the year, and Astoria would not be joining her for two more years. Astoria decided to sit back and wait. She learned everything she could about her "character" (sister) and the kind of heroine she was becoming. By the Summer before Daphne's fourth year, Astoria had a checklist of features for her sister's future paramour.

He would need to like flying. That was a given. Daphne spent more time sitting on a broomstick in the Summer than she did in a chair.

He would need to have an air of mystery. Daphne quickly grew bored with people she could analyze and figure out quickly.

He would need to be kind. Noble. Thoughtful. Caring. Intelligent. He would need to take Daphne on an adventure. This last point was more of Astoria's requirement as her sister's life was too dull ever to have a novel written about her.

Luckily for Astoria, the perfect candidate fell right in her lap during that visit to Diagon Alley. Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. Astoria could not help but feel this was fate. Harry Potter would whisk her sister away to a happily ever after. Admittedly, Astoria was preoccupied with how the Hogwarts sorting took place, but after seeing Harry's interaction with Daphne at Florian Fortesque's, Astoria knew she had found her hero. Now to begin implementing her encouragement of the relationship between her sister and Harry Potter.

Sadly, Astoria had an inauspicious start to her role as the matchmaker. Harry walked into their cabin on the Hogwarts Express, and Astoria forcibly pushed him into the seat next to Daphne. This action had the desired effect of Harry and Daphne sitting next to each other. Astoria thought she had pulled this action off with at least some tact. Tracy Davis shattered that illusion after Harry left, and Daphne went to the loo.

"Astoria, you have all the subtlety of a tap-dancing Hippogriff," Tracy said.

"Huh?"

"It is pretty obvious you are trying to set Daphne up with Potter. Trust me; I know Daphne. If she thinks you are forcing her and Potter together, she will resist it even more. Merlin knows the girl could stand to find a boyfriend, but Daphne would not appreciate interference in her love life."

Astoria sat in contemplative silence for the rest of the trip. Perhaps Tracy was right. She would need to implement her role as the narrator more subtly. Daphne would most certainly resist accepting the wisdom of Astoria's insight. No, Astoria would need to change up her plans and tactics. She would need to adapt to her lack of experience in this new role. Perhaps influencing Harry would be a more prudent approach as he would be less likely to detect her machinations.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" Minerva McGonagall called out at the sorting ceremony.

Astoria strode up to the stool, sat down, and placed the sorting hat on her head. Astoria could not believe Daphne and Harry fooled her into thinking the sorting would be difficult.

"Well, my lady, some students can be difficult to sort," the hat said to her. "Yes…Yes. Difficult. Somewhat difficult. A good mind. Lots of loyalty. Oh, ho….care about your family a lot, don't you, dear? And what an ambitious role to try and play by guiding others' lives. You will need a lot of cunning to pull that off. Now, where to put you."

"Gryffindor, please, Mr. Hat," Astoria replied.

"No….I don't think that is right. You have ambition and purpose. You would be much more suited for a role in Slytherin, don't you think?"

"I would prefer Gryffindor," Astoria simply said.

"Well, that doesn't feel right…. I think it better be SLY…"

"NO! Gryffindor!" Astoria demanded.

"Alright, alright. We will send you to GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the crowd in the Great Hall.

Astoria smiled, hopped off the stool, and headed to the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, she glanced at Harry Potter and then over to her sister. Yes, this would undoubtedly be for the better. As Astoria climbed into bed that night, she pulled out her diary to make the first entry at Hogwarts. She wrote about her ride on the Hogwarts Express and sorting. When she finished, she flipped over to a clean sheet and began a list.

Matchmaking Project #1: Daphne and Harry

1. Observing and Scouting: Begin to understand your hero

2. No Fangirls Allowed: Identify and eliminate the competition

3. Charm Offensive: Get Harry thinking about Daphne

4. Love is in the Air: Get them flying

5. Barrier to Entry: Minimize potential issues to the relationship

With the preliminary list made, Astoria laid her head down and immediately fell asleep. Tomorrow she would begin her career as a matchmaker.

A few weeks into the first term, Astoria felt she had done quite well in accomplishing the items on her list without her targets knowing. She had learned a considerable amount about Harry Potter just from her casual observation in the Common room. The information she gained only confirmed her belief that Harry Potter was the right companion for her sister. Astoria's scouting also allowed her to identify one of the main potential issues in Harry's relationship with her sister. Ron Weasley.

Astoria was not impressed with Harry Potter's "best friend" so far. Ron Weasley seemed to have a permanent lousy attitude and a severe lack of patience. She always heard Ron Weasley grumbling about his lack of "nice" things, the work he needed to do for classes, and the absence of notoriety he had obtained among the Hogwarts population. He would be a problem when Daphne and Harry got together, that was certain. Serendipity did visit Astoria in her first week as Harry transitioned from Divination to Arithmancy. Harry needed to prove himself in Arithmancy and spent a considerable amount of time studying for that class. This transition and added studying seemed to create a minor rift between Harry and Ron and had the bonus of allowing Harry and Daphne to attend another class and study together. In the end, Harry and Ron were still close friends but spent much less time together.

Astoria's first plan was to have Harry think about Daphne whenever possible. To accomplish this, Astoria employed a simple technique of always bringing Daphne up whenever she passed Harry. She started this on the first day of classes when her new housemate Natalie McDonald joined her at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Astoria was sitting just a few seats down from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"So, Astoria, what class do we have this afternoon?" Natalie asked as she sat down.

"Charms. Daphne loves the class and has shown me some of the cool spells we will learn. Sadly, we don't start using our wand for a couple of weeks." Astoria replied, surreptitiously glancing at Harry, who had raised his head when Astoria said Daphne's name. Thus began her implementation of item three on her list.

By early November, Astoria knew Harry Potter was interested in her sister. The two of them studied all the time, and Harry always seemed interested in Astoria's Daphne tidbits. The only problem was that Astoria had not seen them having fun together. She needed to implement item four and get these two flying together.

The perfect situation fell right in her lap one Friday evening when she heard a discussion from some Hufflepuffs of a pick-up Quidditch game happening that Sunday at 2:00 PM. Astoria "accidentally" told Neville Longbottom the game would start at 1:00 instead; knowing full well, he would let the study group know when they got together on Saturday. When Sunday rolled around, Harry and Daphne showed up at the Quidditch pitch a full hour early. Astoria joined the group heading down to watch the game an hour later and saw Harry and Daphne flying and laughing together around the field.

By the beginning of December, Astoria Greengrass could only describe her first year at Hogwarts as amazing. She loved her classes, was having fun with her new friends, and never seemed to have a dull or boring day. Astoria would wake up every morning and immediately look out her window in Gryffindor tower. She loved the view from this spot and greeted the day by looking out over the Hogwarts grounds with a smile on her face. On this particular Friday morning, Astoria woke with a greater sense of purpose. Yesterday, Professor McGonagall told the older years about the Yule Ball and, while Astoria wished she could attend the ball, Astoria's focus was on making sure that Harry Potter asked her sister to the dance. This was above all the most critical task she had for the day as it would see the culmination of all the work she had put in since the beginning of term.

Last night she added one more item to her list: 6. Dancing in the Moonlight: Daphne and Harry at the Yule Ball. As she headed down to breakfast, she began to think about how best to accomplish this goal. She would need to deal with Ginny Weasley first. Early in the year, Astoria identified Ginny as the most direct competition Daphne had for Harry's affection. Ginny Weasley was a competent flier, a beautiful young girl, and (most concerning) Harry spent a considerable amount of time at her house during the Summer Holidays. The only positive was that the girl seemed to be unable to talk to Harry without blushing massively. Still, Astoria could not allow for the potential of a Harry/Ginny couple at the Yule Ball. When Astoria reached the Great Hall, she made sure to sit a couple of spots down from Ginny, who just so happened to be speaking on the topic Astoria wanted to address.

"Did you hear about the Yule Ball, Alice? I wish we could go, but that will only happen if someone older asks us," Ginny said to her Gryffindor roommate.

"You probably have a good chance, Ginny. There are more fourth-year boys than girls, and you are one of the best looking third years."

Ginny blushed under the praise from Alice. "Well, here's to hoping. You know who I want to go with, but I'm sure there will be a long line of girls waiting for his invitation."

Astoria chose this moment to interject in the conversation. "OOOOHHHH! Who do you want to go with?" Astoria asked innocently.

Ginny blushed deeper at this question. "Nevermind that….he would never ask me either way…he doesn't see me like that…" Ginny trailed off.

"Well, if you want my advice," Astoria offered, "boys always seem to want what they cannot have. I've seen boys who had no interest in a girl, suddenly fall head over heels in love once that girl has a boyfriend."

"That's true, Ginny. My brother told me once that he regretted not asking out a girl in his year. It seems that he waited too long, and she ended up dating someone else."

Ginny had a contemplative look on her face. "I don't know. What if he wants to ask me later, and I already have a date?"

Astoria stared straight at Ginny. "Do you want one night at the Yule Ball with this boy, or do you want to be his girlfriend?"

Ginny's cheeks tinged red for the third time this morning. "Well, obviously, I want more…"

"Exactly! You have to play the long game!" Astoria exclaimed. This statement ended the conversation as the unspoken subject of the discussion decided to enter the Great Hall for breakfast at that time.

"Good morning," Harry said as he sat down with Hermione and Ron following behind him.

"Morning, Harry!" Astoria greeted. "What classes do you have today?"

"Arithmancy and Charms this morning," Hermione interjected. "Then, we have double Potions in the afternoon."

"Great," grumbled Ron. "More time with the snakes and the Greasy Git."

"My sister is one of those snakes," Astoria replied hotly.

"Well, good for you," Ron retorted before diving into his breakfast. Astoria could not help but huff before standing up.

"I'm full. Everyone have a good day." Astoria departed from the table. She needed to get to class and plan her route through the castle. She was excited that Harry had two courses with Daphne today and hoped he would ask her during one of those classes. If not, she was hopeful that the suggestion she planted in Ginny's mind would take root, and any potential catastrophe would be averted.

Astoria's History of Magic class that morning seemed to last forever as she wanted to see Harry and Daphne's interaction. She had not yet decided how she would guide Harry into asking her sister to the Yule Ball, but her class provided her with a lengthy brainstorming session. How could she get Harry to ask her sister to the Yule Ball? The key would be giving them some alone time today. Harry would not ask her sister in a group. She would have to hope that Harry would take the initiative and ask her sister today. If not, Astoria would need to take a more active role in pushing Harry forward.

Professor Binns had barely dismissed the class before Astoria burst out the door, heading toward the Arithmancy classroom. Astoria raced up to the seventh floor, skidding to a stop just around the corner from the Arithmancy classroom. She thought she had timed her arrival perfectly as Hermione and Susan Bones had just exited the class, still discussing the lesson. Their departure was followed by Professor Vector, who shut the door behind her and disappeared down the corridor. Astoria swore under her breath and raced back down the stairs. Astoria knew Harry would be heading to the third floor for Charms while her sister probably would be heading down to the ground floor for her Transfiguration class.

As Astoria was heading down the stairs, she observed Harry and Daphne exiting from a side corridor around the third floor. She could not hear what they were discussing, but Daphne looked impressed as she exited into the Grand Staircase. The two stood on the third-floor landing continuing their discussion while other students raced up and down the stairs. Astoria was only a flight of stairs away and blended in with the crowd before ducking behind a suit of armor. From this vantage point, Astoria could hear Harry and Daphne's conversation.

"…lots of other corridors to navigate this castle a lot quicker," Harry finished.

"Thanks, Harry! I will likely use this every day now," Daphne replied.

The two teenagers stood in silence for a few seconds before Harry interrupted.

"Say…Daphne? I was wond…I mean, did you hear about the Yule Ball?"

"Yeah, Professor Snape told us about it last night. It sounds like it will be fun. The Weird Sisters are not my favorite band, but no one can deny they play a good show."

"Yeah," Harry said breathlessly. "Well, I was hoping that you might…"

"Hey, Scarhead!" A snobbish voice interrupted this moment. "Are you bothering this fine Slytherin?"

Coming down the staircase towards Harry and Daphne was Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Actually, Malfoy, you are bothering us. Feel free to head on to Transfiguration."

"Oh, Greengrass, you wound me. I only wished to escort you to class. Besides, I want to talk to you about the Yule Ball," Malfoy replied with a confident smirk on his face.

"The only thing you need to tell me about the Yule Ball is where you will be sitting. That way, I can be sure to sit at a table on the other side of the room," Daphne retorted. Harry could not stop himself from snorting at this statement.

"What are you smiling about, Potter? You have a date for the Yule Ball yet? I didn't think so. Who would want to go with a glory-seeking, talentless half-blood like yourself? Come on, guys, the air here smells awful."

Harry could not help but respond as Malfoy continued down the stairs. "I'm surprised you are going to the Yule Ball, Malfoy. I thought Christmas Night was when they exchanged gifts in Azkaban. Figured you and your mother would want to be there to give your father a new set of prison robes." With this statement, Harry turned to Daphne. "Listen, Daph; I will see you later in Potions. Maybe we can talk some more then?"

"Sure, Harry," Daphne said and watched Harry turn to enter the Charms corridor.

"BANG!" A white spell flew past Daphne and towards Harry. Harry attempted to move out of the way but wasn't quick enough. The jinx slammed into his head, and Harry fell forward on the floor. Daphne pulled out her wand and turned towards Malfoy. Malfoy stood there with a smirk on his face.

"Teach him to insult my family, filthy half-blood," Malfoy sneered.

Daphne's anger surged, but before she could respond, there was a distinct, "HEM HEM!"

Coming up the stairs was Madam Umbridge in her pink cardigan. "What do we have here? An attack on a defenseless student? YOU! BOY! You're Lucius Malfoy's son, aren't you? Come with me. The Ministry has a few questions for you." Umbridge grabbed Malfoy by the robes and dragged him up the stairs. "Girl," Umbridge addressed Daphne, "take Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing before going to class."

Daphne was bent over and checking on Harry, whose face was swollen and disfigured from Malfoy's stinging jinx. Daphne picked him up off the floor and led him down the stairs while Umbridge continued to drag Malfoy up to her office.

As the landing cleared, Astoria could not control her anger and kicked the suit of armor. "I DARE SAY!" The suit of armor called out.

"Oh, do be quiet," Astoria replied before running off to her next class. She was frustrated that Harry and Daphne had been interrupted. It was apparent Harry was going to ask her sister to the ball, and Draco Malfoy had to ruin it. Maybe after Potions, she thought to herself as she planned to spend the afternoon down in the dungeons waiting for her two main characters.

At lunchtime, Astoria decided to take a more active role and rushed up to the Hospital Wing. Harry Potter was gathering his books to exit the ward when Astoria came through the door.

"Hey, Harry. I heard what happened this morning. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Astoria. A little bit of hurt pride and a wish that I dodged a little faster."

"What made Malfoy attack you? I don't think I've ever seen you two interact before."

"He seemed to take issue with me talking to your sister."

"Oh?" Astoria questioned suggestively. "And what were you and my sister talking about?"

Harry blushed. "We were talking about the Yule Ball."

"Are you going to ask her to go with you?"

"What? No…I mean…maybe," Harry offered. "I'm not sure she would go with me," Harry finished quietly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Astoria said before turning and leaving the Hospital Wing. Astoria was proud of herself as she walked to lunch. Nice and subtle. Hopefully, this would boost Harry's confidence so that he would ask Daphne again.

Later that afternoon, Astoria stood in the corridor outside the Potions classroom, waiting for Snape to release the students. The door finally opened, and the students started to exit the room. Draco Malfoy was in the lead and silently walked away from the classroom at a brisk pace. Harry Potter exited a few minutes later, talking to Daphne, walking beside him. Before they had walked ten paces from the door, they were interrupted by the presence of another student.

Theodore Nott approached Harry and Daphne and asked to speak with Daphne. Astoria and Harry tensed, and their backs' straightened at the same time. Daphne excused herself from Harry and joined Nott a few steps away.

"Daphne, would you do me the honor of accompanying you to the Yule Ball?" Nott said.

At this statement, Harry turned and walked away from Daphne and Nott, walking fast toward the stairs. This action did not go unnoticed by Daphne though she turned to address Nott.

"I'm sorry, Theodore. I must decline your offer," Daphne said politely. "Please excuse me." Daphne turned toward the direction where Harry had just left. Daphne bolted down the hallway towards the staircase. Astoria, abandoning any pretense of hiding her presence, rushed after her sister and Harry. Astoria barely avoided Delores Umbridge as she entered the stairwell. When Astoria burst into the Entrance Hall, she almost ran directly into her sister's back. Luckily, she managed to hide behind her and eavesdrop on her conversation.

"…why did you leave?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I didn't want to disturb you and Nott," Harry replied.

"You were not disturbing us. He asked me to the ball, and I declined."

"You did?" Harry asked, hopefully. "Why?"

"He's not the boy I want to go with to the ball. I…I want to go with you."

Harry's face broke into a smile. "Daphne, will you go with me to the Yule Ball?"

Daphne's face mirrored Harry's. "I would love to go with you." With that, the two turned and walked side-by-side toward the library.

Christmas Day at Hogwarts was a fun experience for Astoria. Astoria loved the decorations spread around the Great Hall and considerably enjoyed pulling some crackers with Natalie. After breakfast, she joined the rest of Gryffindor in engaging in a snowball fight organized by Harry and the Weasleys. Harry was quite protective of her during the fight and always retaliated whenever someone hit her with a snowball. As the sun started to set, Astoria was sitting in the Common Room, watching the older years leave for the ball. Astoria's attention focused on the boys' staircase as Neville and Harry appeared. The two boys looked quite handsome in their dress robes. Astoria whistled.

"You two look very handsome tonight. I hope you have fun!" Astoria said.

Neville and Harry both dipped their heads. "Thanks, Astoria! Neville and I need to head out and pick up our dates. You have a fun night!" Harry and Neville turned toward the portrait hole and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. Astoria's face broke into a huge smile. She could not wait till tomorrow morning when she would find out about the Yule Ball. Her dreams that night were filled with Harry and Daphne twirling around the Great Hall, staring longingly into each others' eyes. Despite Astoria's lofty dreams, the Yule Ball would not be entirely perfect for her sister and Harry.

A/N: Hey all! First of all, I would like to apologize for the massive delay in this chapter. Since I last posted, I've become a parent. Obviously, this has taken a MASSIVE amount of my time, but COVID furlough has allowed me some free time. I am committed to finishing this story, and my updated outline is now at fifteen chapters for the full story. That means we are almost halfway. I hope you enjoyed the Astoria chapter. Just to give you a preview of the next three chapters (and prove I have outlined the story), the POV for the following three chapters will be Daphne, Umbridge, and Dumbledore, respectively.

Just as a refresher, this story is AU and follows canon from the original seven books only. That being said, thank you for all your feedback, follows, and favorites even though I went on a hiatus. I also am still looking for a Beta if anyone wants to volunteer. I would appreciate some input on the following chapters, especially some of the dialogue. Anyway, until next time, stay safe and be well.