Hi again :) This is the second bit of the ETM challenge response. This one is for the response to the humanities. I think all three of the following prompts fit, so choose whichever you think fits best.

- Gender Studies: the study of males and females in society - write about: a romance

- Education: learning how to make the next generation great - write about: something that happens in Hogwarts

- Composition and Rhetoric: getting people to do what you want - write about: someone who knows how to get what they want

I don't own Harry Potter.

A matter of the heart

25th February, 1999

Astoria Greengrass smiled to herself. Today was the day. This was the moment she had waited for. She looked down at the black king in her hand. Tomorrow it would be exactly four years ago that she had first seen it. Astoria got a far away look in her eyes as she allowed herself to briefly re-live the memory of how she had helped Harry and Hermione enchant the very chess set that she now hoped to win on. She placed the king on the board, completing her two rows of pieces and looked up to her opponent.

"May the better player win." She offered.

Ron Weasley nodded back to her. Ever since the war had ended, there were a lot more different activities in school. The Hogwarts Chess Championship was one of them. Astoria had made it to the finals, and she badly wanted to win. However, the reason she wanted to win was not the title, as gratifying as that may be. It was a private bet with her opponent.

A week earlier

"Hey, Weasley!" Astoria called out, as she had finally managed to find Ron Weasley alone.

He turned around and looked at her guardedly. "Greengrass. What do you want?"

Astoria sighed, as she tried once more to reason with the tall boy. "Does it really have to be like this?"

"I don't know what you mean." He claimed with a shrug.

"You do know very well what I mean. Ever since Harry and I became friends you are trying to get between us. I understood a little when he was still dating your sister, but now?"

The boy looked at her with an expression somewhere between anger and suspicion. "I just don't understand what you want from Harry? He won the war, is famous and suddenly you two are best buddies. You are a Slytherin, they know how to make the most out of a situation. I haven't seen you help him in any way when he was on his last leg battling Voldemort."

That hurt Astoria. "Harry understands why I couldn't help him."

"Yeah, he told me all about that. But in the end you didn't help him because it was the easy way out. What happens when the next dark lord is after him? You vanish under your rock again until the danger is gone? Harry needs real friends."

"I am a real friend." Astoria shouted exasperatedly.

"You are a nice weather friend. Harry has enough people who pat his back when it is easy."

Astoria narrowed her eyes. "You just blame me for Harry and your sister breaking up. And you think if I was out of the picture they would come back together again. Go on, admit it!"

"Look, I'm not saying there was something between you. Harry is too honourable for that."

Astoria couldn't believe it. "And I am not?"

The boy simply ignored her. "But Ginny can easily get jealous. She told me it had nothing to do with that, but what else should I believe."

"Maybe that it just didn't work out?" Astoria suggested.

"What did he tell you about it?" Weasley asked once more in a suspicious voice.

"Nothing really. Only that it was his fault and that he didn't want to talk about it."

"And you were not a little bit happy when you heard?" Weasley asked again.

Astoria took a deep breath to start denying it, but when she thought about it, she knew it wouldn't get her anywhere.

"No, I was happy. I was sad for Harry that he was feeling badly about it, but I was happy for myself."

"See?" Weasley shouted triumphantly, waving a finger in her face.

"See nothing. I didn't do anything – ANYTHING – to break up Harry and your sister. First of all, you are right and Harry would never stand for that. Second of all, no matter what you might think I have seen how much he suffered during the war and I wanted him to be happy. And mostly I am not the type of girl who steals another girl's boyfriend."

"Yeah, as if." Weasley scoffed. "Anyway, what do you want from me?" He asked.

The question caught Astoria slightly off-guard. "Pardon?"

"You found me here. Certainly you didn't think you could convince me. What do you want from me?"

"I want to ask Harry out." Astoria stated clearly. If there was one thing she did know, it was that.

"Over my dead body." Weasley replied immediately.

Astoria looked at him pleadingly. "Does it really have to be this way?"

The boy simply nodded grimly and Astoria sighed. "Alright. Look, I know you don't like me. I'm certain you have your reasons, however stupid they may be. But I like Harry. Believe what you want, but I really like him. I want to try and see if I can have a relationship with him. And to me, this is important enough that I will happily fight you all the way." She made a small break as she gauged his reaction. His frown deepened and it seemed he was about to say something, so she continued before he could interrupt her. "But I don't want that for Harry. I would prefer it if I could just convince you that whatever bad opinion you have of me is wrong, but that doesn't seem possible. So let us make a bet. If I win the Hogwarts Chess Championship next week, I will ask out Harry and you won't stand in my way. If you win, I will not ask him out until at least after he leaves Hogwarts. I have to come back here next year, so more realistically I won't ask him out until I leave Hogwarts. That should give your sister all the time in the world to come back together with him if she wants."

Weasley looked at her more curious than frowning now. "And if I don't agree to your little bet?"

"Then I will leave you standing here, march straight up to Harry, kiss him on the lips and ask him out to Hogsmeade. And I will put all my Slytherin resourcefulness, which you seem to fear so much, into making sure that you won't come between me and him." Astoria said threateningly.

Weasley's eyes narrowed as he thought about her words. Astoria smiled as she could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Finally he held out his hand. "Alright, we do the bet. You'll never win, Greengrass."

"We'll see." Astoria said as she shook his hand. "We'll see."

Astoria had prepared for the full last month. She had studied Muggle strategies and games that hadn't made it into the magical world yet. She knew in ten games, Ron Weasley would probably win nine. Objectively, he was clearly the better player. But that didn't bother her. She only needed one win. This one. If she could surprise him with strategies he hadn't seen yet, she might get the upper hand.

She thought about the reason why she wanted to win. Harry. Back when they had first met, she would have never thought that she would end up falling for Harry Potter. Please, a boy who could barely keep up intellectually with a girl two years is junior? Astoria would have laughed whoever suggested it out of the room. But she had been desperate for chess partners, so in return for helping him and Hermione she had demanded bi-weekly chess games and he had taken her up on the deal. That was how she first got to know him.

He had been very different from what she had first expected. Of course, he was total pants at chess, but it didn't seem to bother him to lose to her. He always smiled when he greeted her, sat down and tried his best. He never complained. Astoria became a bit more confident, and started trying to teach him. To her surprise, he had seemed to enjoy it. A girl two years younger than him was lecturing him, and he didn't mind. Anyone else she knew would have seen it as a weakness and shut her up. But Harry simply nodded and tried work what she told him into his game. Sometimes he even asked questions. His questions, in fact, had been how she had first discovered that he was much more intelligent than she had originally thought.

It wasn't until the week before the first task when to her utter shame she had discovered that she had done exactly the same as those other girls her age that she had always only shaken her head at until now: she had developed a crush on Harry Potter. Though other than most, at least she had a crush on the actual boy, not on the obviously wrongly depicted boy-who-lived persona. But still.

Now, four years later, she knew it had been a young girl's crush and in fact much like Ginny Weasley probably Astoria would never have found the confidence to act upon it back then. But she never found out, because a week after she had admitted her crush to herself, Harry had come back with the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory and the warning that Voldemort had been back. She knew it to be true as soon as she first heard that he said it from her sister, who had been closer at the time. The boy she had gotten to know wouldn't make something like that up.

A few weeks later her family had come to the same agreement with Voldemort as they had in the first war. They would stay neutral and Voldemort would steer clear of them. Of course that meant there was no way either she or Daphne, who before that had started a tentative friendship with Harry and Hermione, could talk to Harry again. Daphne had written them a note to explain everything, and Astoria had written a small note as well, but Harry had never replied.

Astoria had hated that he didn't reply. Oftentimes she found herself wondering if he thought them evil bigots, like so many Slytherins were. She tried to think how she would react in his position, but she couldn't quite put herself in his shoes at the time. Harry never even looked at her or as far as she knew her sister, but Astoria continued to observe. She observed how he clashed with Umbridge. She even sent a second note when by accident overheard two people talking about how someone had betrayed Harry's defence club to Umbridge. But again he hadn't replied and best she knew he had simply ignored it, as they still got caught. She was angry for a while and she got over her crush, but still she admired how he held himself through it all.

In the next two years she tried to follow his example as much as she could, without endangering her family. She took care of the Slytherins in the years under her, protecting them as well as she could from death eater spawn or bullies, mostly both at the same time. She heard at the end of her third year that Harry had lost someone important to him, but she hadn't been able to find out more until a few months later. Who would have thought that Sirius Black had been Harry's godfather? Or for that matter, innocent?

It had been two hard years for her. Not as hard as Harry's probably, but still she had done plenty of fighting. When she heard that Harry had gotten together with Ginny Weasley, it didn't really matter to Astoria anymore. She had her own life, her own fights, her own people to protect. Sometimes she mourned the potential friendship she and her sister had lost, but nothing more than that.

That was until the night of the Battle of Hogwarts. She had been in the hospital wing until just a few days earlier, as she had been badly hurt when she protected a few first year Slytherins from being tortured by wanna-be death eaters. Something the Carrows, who taught there that year, had readily allowed to happen. She was very lucky that Madam Pomfrey had managed to put her together again without any lasting damage. Still, she had been proud with herself, as the first years had gotten away clean.

When Harry suddenly had appeared in Hogwarts, and Voldemort's voice sounded through the halls, Astoria had taken one look at her sister and both of them had known that the time for a decision had come. When you are in the middle of the battle field, there was no way to stay neutral anymore. No matter what Harry might think of them by now, they weren't death eaters. And so they did their best to help protect the castle, or in their case the younger students, especially from Slytherin.

It had gone really well, too. Nearly flawless. Until that one moment. Voldemort had already fallen. They had already won. Sure, the remaining death eaters still had to be taken care of, but certainly everything had seemed fine.

Flashback

As she saw Voldemort being struck by Harry's spell, she smiled and looked to her sister. It was over. Her sister smiled back to her and nodded and Astoria looked around the room. Harry had gone to his knees, understandable really. In other parts of the hall the remaining death eaters were rounded up. Astoria looked back to Daphne and suddenly time froze.

There, behind her, Astoria saw Theodore Nott raise his wand. No one else seemed to notice, so Astoria started to run, but it was across the hall. As a spell left Notts wand, Astoria knew she would never make it in time. The spell would hit Daphne square in the back. Astoria sprinted, but it was hopeless.

The spell had already made half the distance. Now three quarters. Astoria stopped running abruptly, when another movement caught her eye. Harry. Harry was running straight towards Daphne.

Open mouthed, wide eyed and praying to every god she knew about, she hoped, pleaded that somehow her sister would survive. That Harry would make it. It looked like the spell would be first, just as Harry jumped.

He reached Daphne. He pushed her out of the way. Relief washed over Astoria. Her sister was… no. No. NO! NO! Astoria's heart stopped when she saw the spell impact into Harry's leg. It looked like he would make it out of there. Why?

Harry was flung over the floor like a ragdoll and impacted into a knocked over table. That was when people started to react. Theodore Nott was stunned immediately. Soon a crowd of people blocked Astoria's vision on Harry. Tears shot in her eyes. Why had he done it? Hadn't he ignored them for the last three years? Hadn't he thought they were evil, like the death eaters? Why? Why had he been hit? It had looked like he would make it. It just hit his leg.

Astoria looked towards her sister. Daphne was still lying on the floor where Harry had pushed her, though she had propped herself upon her elbows. She was staring to the point where both of them knew Harry was lying right now. For a brief moment, Astoria caught her sister's eyes. She didn't know what to do.

Later Astoria and Daphne had visited Harry in the hospital wing. It had been a relief for both of them that the curse wasn't deadly. Harry's right leg would probably need a year of training before it would be back to its old mobility, but no lasting damage was done beyond that. Both of them knew they would be eternally grateful to him. Still, they wanted to know why he had decided to jump in front of the spell for Daphne.

What they were told surprised them. Harry had never gotten their letters. He went as far as to swear it, not that it had been necessary. He also told them that he never thought them to be evil or anything like that. He explained that during the summer before his fifth year he had visited his Godfathers house. While there, he had overheard Headmaster Dumbledore talking about the Greengrass family going back to their neutral stance. After listening in some more Harry had understood what exactly that meant and that in order for Astoria's and Daphne's family to be safe they couldn't meet each other again. So he had decided to keep his distance. When both Astoria and her sister had tried to apologise, Harry had suddenly become very serious. "Never – NEVER – again apologise to me for trying to keep your family safe." He had said. Astoria thought she would never forget the look of conviction and compassion in is face.

Over the next days, Astoria visited Harry often and they started building a real friendship. Well, she assumed that's what it had been for Harry, as he had already been with Ginny Weasley again at that time. For Astoria the situation was different. Between saving her sister, his understanding for their situation and his even trying to help them with it by staying away, her crush had come back quite powerfully. Astoria knew though that it wasn't the same as it had been three years prior. It was stronger than a simple crush.

During the summer holidays Astoria found out that it had been her father who had redirected hers and Daphne's owls, as he had noticed that both of them had been unhappy that they couldn't meet Harry again. She had been mad at him for a little while, but quickly forgave him. She could see where he was coming from, and it was in the past now.

She spent much of the first quarter of the next school year getting reacquainted with Harry and to a lesser part Hermione, who both had come back for their seventh year in Hogwarts. It was a lot of fun and Astoria found that she liked how both of them had changed during the war. She had tried to get Ron to like her, but Harry's red-headed friend seemed to have a very fixed opinion about her. Maybe he knew her true feelings for Harry, or maybe he really objected to her behaviour during the war. Astoria never found out for sure.

Nonetheless, often she would spend time with their group, consisting of Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron. As opposed to her brother, Ginny had been very nice towards Astoria, whenever she was around. And so she had mixed feelings when she noticed first in early October that Harry and Ginny where having problems. Sure, she would like a chance with Harry, but the group apart from Ron had been very welcoming and personally she had thought that he and Ginny fit well together. She swore to herself she wouldn't do anything to give them more trouble, a promise she kept. She even tried to help out when she saw a way. But all in all it simply seemed that the year they had spent apart had changed both in different ways. A month later they had broken up and Astoria had nothing to feel guilty about, other than maybe the slight feeling of joy when she heard the news.

Astoria made the decision to be there for Harry and to stay his friend until he was ready to date again. But then she would take her chances and ask him out. She had learned during the war that if you knew what you wanted, there was little sense in delaying it. Her only worry had been how Ron Weasley would react. She didn't want to cause Harry any unnecessary distress.

Astoria shook herself out of her thoughts and looked back at Ron Weasley. This was the last hurdle. Astoria was sure Harry would at least agree to go out with her a few times. She just needed Weasley off her back. She had hoped to get Weasley's approval. She had honestly done everything she could think of. She had even pleaded with him, for Harry's sake. But now she wanted the next best thing. For Weasley to stay out of her way.

Weasley took a deep breath and started the game. "Pawn to E4."

Astoria smiled to herself as she dropped her eyes onto the board. She knew she could win…

There was applause in the hall from those watching, but Astoria was searching for one particular face amongst the crowd. There he was. He was smiling. Astoria jumped up and held out her hand towards her opponent. Weasley looked at the board in disbelief, but then looked up and shook her hand while still sitting.

"It was just luck. I needed to win, so I prepared and learned a lot of things that I hoped you had never seen before. Nine out of ten games I know you would win." Astoria said quietly.

She might have been mistaken, but it felt like for a short moment there had a hint of approval shone through Weasley's eyes. After they let go of each other's hands Astoria once more looked for Harry, who was still standing in the front row. She jumped of the small stage and walked straight towards him. He had allowed her to wipe the floor with him quite a few times over the last month, to help her prepare, so you could say he was something like her trainer. Harry opened his arms as she came close and Astoria gladly walked right into his hug.

After a few moments, Harry released the hug a bit, so that he could look at her. Astoria wanted to ask him out, but it seemed he wanted to say something, so she gave him time to collect himself.

"Listen, I… I wanted to ask you for some time, but… but I didn't want it to seem like I was using you to get over… you know. Would you… I mean there is a Hogsmeade weekend. I thought we could… you know?"

Astoria looked at him for another moment disbelievingly. He had wanted to ask her out as well? At that thought a smile spread on her face. She heard a snort and a giggle from whoever was standing beside them, and she thought she heard Hermione say something about Harry's way with words, but the joy she felt was enough for her to simply ignore his abysmal delivery. Instead she stood up on her toes and gave Harry a small peck on the cheek, and with a bit of mirth in her smile decided to show him how to do it right. "Harry, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Yes." Harry replied, more confidently this time. They smiled at each other.

"So, to date daddy you had to first beat Uncle Ron in chess?"

It was the 31st of August 2020, and Harry and Astoria sat in the living room of their comfortable house. Harry had their youngest daughter, Lilly Daphne Potter, on his lap, while their middle daughter, Lisa Nymphadora Potter, lay on the couch with her head in Astoria's lap.

Their oldest child, Charlus Wayne Potter, after both of their grandfathers, was still outside, flying in the gardens. Tomorrow Lilly would go to Hogwarts for the first time, leaving Harry and her alone in the house.

Astoria smiled down at Lisa, who had asked the question. "Yes. See, chess isn't that boring now, is it? Without it, you might have never been born."

"Chess is never boring." Lilly chimed in. She had inherited Astoria's talent for the game and Lisa was her favourite victim, just like Harry was Astoria's.

"Though I would have asked your mother out one way or the other. And your Uncle Ron eventually got over it." Harry said.

"It's cool that you are all still friends. How long did it take until Aunty Ginny was ok with it?"

Astoria snorted. "You would be surprised; it took her less time than it did Uncle Ron."

Both Lisa and Lilly giggled. "He is stubborn, isn't he?" Lisa commented.

Astoria laughed at her daughter's bluntness. "One of his very few faults, indeed." She looked up to see Harry send her a warm smile.

"Do you think I can beat Uncle Ron in chess one day?" Lilly asked excitedly.

"If you practice hard, I'm sure you can." Harry answered.

Their little girl got a look of determination on her face, so Astoria quickly added "But do not neglect your school work, young lady."

Lilly pouted, but nodded anyway.

"Speaking of which," Harry finally said, "Dinner is soon. You should go and check whether you have everything packed, so we can eat in peace. Tell your brother as well."

It was the evening of the next day. All their children where save in Hogwarts and they had gotten a short note that Lilly had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Tomorrow they would meet with Ron and Hermione, Astoria's sister Daphne and her husband Justin Finch-Fletchley. Ginny Weasley and her husband Oliver Wood and Neville Longbottom and his wife Hannah Abbot, to celebrate that all children of their group were now in Hogwarts, with Lilly Potter and Fiona Longbottom being the youngest of the cohort. Tonight they had to themselves.

As Astoria looked at the chess board between them with wide eyes, she knew her youngest boarding the Hogwarts express wouldn't be the only first this day. She looked up to her husband of soon twenty years, as he made his final move.

"Check." She had always enjoyed the sound of his voice. She smiled at him.

"…Mate." She finished for him and her king went onto his knees in on the board, signalling his defeat.

Astoria looked into her husband's emerald eyes. "You did it." Her husband smiled back at her. All was well.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed yourself :)