As a sixth year I got to take much more interesting classes, and even slipped in muggle studies in attempts to snuff out any rumors and lies my family had fed me for the last sixteen years. The first day back was better than I could've ever hoped for -- but then dinner came.

In all honesty, it was far better than what it could've been, what I'd expected. I sat down, bracing myself for the onslaught of rage from Pansy and her goons, but instead was greeted with an awkward pause.

They all looked at me for a moment, unsure, then went back to their conversations. Pansy was now sitting next to Draco, staring at me with her angry, beady little eyes.

The daggers went on until dessert -- that was when I finally said something.

Taking a deep breath and letting my fork clammer down onto the plate, I said, "Look, Pansy, I'm sorry --"

"Don't!" She said, fuming. "You broke my nose! Pomfrey had to perform a charm but it still looks different."

Now that she mentioned it, her pig-nose definitely did seem slightly extra puffy now.

"Pansy, I didn't mean to break your nose, I just --"

"Don't think just because your sister died we all need to allow your insane behavior. If anything, Daphne being alive put a shield on you by me, and now, that shield is gone," she hissed.

The melodrama of it all was utterly obnoxious.

She did have a point though. The Pansy-Protection-Package placed over me because I was her friend's sister was now gone. But did I actually care?

No. Honestly, what could she do to me now? Other than break my nose for revenge, I suppose.

I rolled my eyes, sinking into myself. I wanted to say something back, but what? Just as I was knitting the perfect passive-aggressive comeback, my thoughts were interrupted by another shriek of her voice.

"Come on, Draco, let's go back to the Common Room," she said, glaring at me, flaring her already overpronoucened nose. He was hunched over a slice of cake, looking at it with complete concentration.

"I'm good," he said, putting another fork-full in his mouth.

He stayed sitting, looking content with his dessert. She shook her head slightly, her lips parted, eyes narrowed, trying to work out what had just happened in her tiny little mind.

She froze for a second. "I suppose some cake would be nice," she muttered. Unwilling to give up, she tried another tactic. "You're lucky, Greengrass. I wanted to just give you proper payback, nose for a nose." She looked rather proud of that statement, like it took her a long while to think up. "But that wouldn't last long enough, no. Afterall, unstable freaks such as yourself need to be monitored --"

I cut her off and said, "Then why don't --"

"Pansy, could you just stop?" I didn't expect this. It came from Draco.

"What?" She hissed incredulously. He just looked back at his cake.

I suppressed my surprise and took the opportunity to say something. "I look forward to the day you decide to break my nose, and get me the proper monitoring I need, Pansy," I said, a small smile on my face. Not to gloat, but I was rather proud of the toxic levels of passive aggression cramped into the sentence.

Pansy straightened herself out and stood up. "Oh, I'm sure you do," she sneered. She walked out, her hips swaying, her short bobbed hair flailing back and forth with each elongated step.

"Thanks," I said to him after she'd gone. He met my eyes for a second and looked back down with a nod. After a few more minutes of silence he looked back up as if to say something, but at that point students were already leaving for bed, and I spotted the blonde braids of Holly. I got up and chased after her.

"Hey, Holly!" I called when we'd gotten out of the Great Hall. She turned, a smile on her lips.

"Hey Astoria, what's up?" She asked.

"It's just, I never got a chance to tell you on the train -- I just -- well, how sorry I am about what happened in second year --"

"Seriously, don't worry, we were twelve years old and --"

"That doesn't make it okay though," I said. Her face fell a bit and she closed her mouth, nodding, allowing me to go on. "For some ridiculous reason I had a problem with muggle-borns. . . and it made me a pretty horrible person to be quite honest. But I just want you to know I'm not that girl anymore, okay? And, you seem like a really great person, I mean, what you did yesterday on the train? After what I'd done? I just -- . . . thank you, Holly. I'm sorry I missed out on a really great friend all those years ago. What you did didn't go unappreciated." I meant every word. I figured I'd stop myself before I got too overwhelmingly cheesy.

She smiled warmly. "Your welcome, Astoria. Look, you don't -- you don't have to punish yourself for who you were, or who you used to be. You know? What I mean is, oh I dunno, I'm no Dumbledore."

We both giggled, and I said, "I know what you mean."

"Holly, what are you --" a girl said, rounding the corner. She had dark skin and a lot of brown curly hair. The same girl Holly was with on the train.

"Oh, I'd better go," Holly said, walking in the direction of the girl. I nodded and said goodbye. She stopped when she got a few steps away and turned back around to face me.

"Hey, we're going to Hogsmead on Saturday -- me, Joss" -- she motioned to the girl down the hall -- "and my brother Caleb. Do you wanna come?"

I nodded, a bit over enthusiastically. "Yeah, yeah, sure, I'd love to go."

She smiled. "Meet us in the courtyard around 4 o' clock."

"Okay," I said, grinning ear to ear.

* * *

I entered the common room with a smile on my face. Had I actually just made a friend? Is that really what happened?

Pansy and her group of she-goblins were arranged on the couches, whispered wildly as I walked in. I rolled my eyes and sunk into myself, curling my balled fists into my robes. In actuality, I was lucky. If I'd knocked Pansy in the jaw the year before, I would've gotten bull-dozed by the Slytherins for hurting their princess. But at this point, I think everyone was silently cheering me on, doing what they all had wanted to do for years.

Pansy stood up, a proud look on her face, chin angled up. "Oh, what are you doing here? Didn't you know, Slughorn and McGonagall would like to see you in her office." Her thin lips curled into a grin, her one eyebrow raised with her hands on her hips.

"Is that right?" I asked, part of me challenging her, the other genuinely asking. I noticed Draco sitting in the corner, studying (an odd thing for him to do -- in all my years of sharing a common room with him, I'd never seen him study). I widened my eyes slightly, asking him if that was true. He nodded slightly and returned his attention to his books.

I huffed and headed back out of the common room. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Pansy snickered.

I waited outside Professor Slughorn's door, not sure how to get into McGonagall's office. "Oh! Yes, Miss. Greengrass, right this way," he said, already in his PJs. He made me put my hands over my ears as he said the password to her office.

"I trust you know what this is about, Miss Greengrass," Professor McGonagall said as I sat down across from her. I nodded, looking down.

"Care to tell us what prompted your sudden burst of violence?" She asked, taking off her glasses and placing them down on her desk. Slughorn stood behind her, looking quite interested in what I had to say. I supposed he liked his scoop on the gossip.

"I-I didn't really mean to. . . you know. . . ."

"Knock the daylights from her?" Professor Slughorn chimed, lifting his index finger and nodding his head.

"You're saying you didn't mean to punch her in the face? So, you mean to tell us, your hand spontaneously flew from your body and broke Miss Parkinson's nose?" McGonagall said.

I sighed. "No, I just--. . . I'm sorry, Professor. I won't do anything like it again," I said quietly.

"Right you are. That's three weeks detention, and any visits to Hogsmeade will be suspended until October," she said, leaning back in her chair.

I remembered the plans I had for Saturday, the first plans I'd made with a friend since. . . ever. "But Professor --"

"No 'buts', Miss Greengrass." She let out a sigh. "I know your sister's passing has been hard on you. But you can't go around, what was it you said, Horace?"

"Oh, knocking the daylights from people, Professor?" He pipped in.

"Yes, that," she said, studying me.

After a moment I nodded, looking at the ground. She stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're a good kid, Astoria. Don't let bad people bring out the worst of you."

I bit my lip, still fixated on the carpet. "That'll be all, Greengrass," Slughorn said.

Just as I was about to walk out, Professor McGonagall said, "Astoria, you know if you need someone to talk to -- just some company -- you know where to find me." I looked back and saw the warm, sympathetic smile on her face. My lips twitched into a short smile, and I left.