Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the copyright of J.K. Rowling.

A/N: This is an Astoria-focused oneshot that takes place in the 97-98 school year, with a small beginning flashback to her sorting in '93. Except for this beginning, she is in her fifth year. This is for 'The Flashback Competition', also.

September, 1993.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" Professor McGonagall called. A small dark-haired girl made her way up to the stool, glancing at the Slytherin table, where her sister Daphne, a blonde third-year, smiled encouragingly as Astoria sat down on the stool. The hat was placed on her forehead; it slid down too far, and it seemed to be swallowing her whole head.

'Hmm...you're an interesting one,' the hat said into her mind. It was a disconcerting feeling, having a hat speak directly into her head. 'Your whole family has been in Slytherin for several generations, and I do like placing students with their families. But still...you've got the sharp intellect of a Ravenclaw, and certainly the courage of a Gryffindor. You could do well in either of these three Houses. Where to place you...'

'Slytherin', Astoria responded. She wanted to be in the same house as her sister, even if the two girls didn't agree on certain things, even if Astoria didn't believe in the stupidity of Muggle-borns. It was better and easier to be in the house she was expected to be in. 'Slytherin, please,' she repeated again.

'I still say you would have been wonderful in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. But if you insist...SLYTHERIN!' It shouted the last word out to the whole Great Hall. Astoria, relieved, slid off the stool and handed the Sorting Hat back to Professor McGonagall, walking over to the Slytherins' table. She thought it ridiculous; why on earth would the Hat consider placing her in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? She didn't believe in pureblood superiority, but she was still a Slytherin at heart.

Right?

October, 1997.

Astoria pulled her cloak tighter around herself. The corridors weren't heated at night; students weren't supposed to be out anyway, so there was no point in making it comfortable. She had never realized just how cold it was, though, to be walking around at night in her thin pajamas, only a cloak for warmth. Not for the first time she mentally cursed herself for bringing only thin fabrics like satin and silk; her parents, rich purebloods, only bought their daughters expensive but flimsy pajamas. Normally she didn't mind; she was comfortable in her dormitory under the thick blankets.

She hadn't thought at the beginning of the year that she'd be sneaking around after curfew. She knew that this year was going to be different, to say the least. The Dark Lord - oh, what the hell, she could think the name Voldemort as long as she didn't say it out loud - had unofficially taken over the Wizarding world, and two new teachers that were most certainly Death Eaters had been instated at Hogwarts. Alecto Carrow and Amycus Carrow.

Merlin, she hated them. She hated their stupidity, their utter belief in Voldemort's cause, the way that they didn't hesitate to use the Cruciatus Curse on students who didn't kiss their asses. She wasn't like most of the other Slytherins; all of them either believed in pureblood superiority or, if they didn't, went along with it to avoid ostracism. She had never outright spoken about it, but she had certainly let her disapproval be shown. Now, she was taking it to another level.

She heard a noise and froze where she was, listening carefully. There was no further noise, and she determined that it was simply the castle creaking. She continued walking, the Muggle Studies classroom being her first destination. It was the first class of the day for the seventh years, and she wanted them to see what she had planned. Almost all of the seventh years who remained at Hogwarts were members of Dumbledore's Army, a rebel group that fought back against the new regime at Hogwarts, and she wanted them to see that there was somebody else who hated the Carrows as well.

Dumbledore's Army wouldn't accept her. Astoria knew that. She was a Slytherin, after all, and they would automatically assume that she was some sort of spy for the Carrows; she knew the way they thought. She didn't even want to bother trying to get in with that crowd, but she wanted to show them that there was somebody else, that it wasn't just members of their little group that hated the Carrows' regime.

That wasn't the only reason for her little escapade, however. It wasn't just to prove something to the D.A. Astoria hated the Carrows, and she wanted to annoy them; she wanted to do something about that. And although this may have been just a little prank, something any first year probably could do, she knew that it was a start, at least. She was still young. The year wasn't even half over. There was time.

She crept inside the classroom, walking silently up to the board. She picked up a piece of chalk and drew a picture, carefully tracing the figures of Alecto and Amycus Carrow on the board. It was obvious that's who the two people were supposed to be; they were both short, stubby, and ugly, each with a crudely-drawn Dark Mark on the left forearm. The drawing took up a large space of the board; each Carrow was about one foot high and six inches across. She drew a circle around them, reaching up on her tiptoes to make the top of the circle, then slashed a diagonal line through the middle. The message was simple.

It would never get traced back to her. Astoria could draw well, as she had just proven, but nobody knew about that. The only time she ever did sketch was when she was at home, in the privacy of her own bedroom, and she never showed anyone her pictures. Nobody would be able to say, "That looks like something Astoria would draw."

With her left hand, she took the chalk and wrote underneath the drawing, in looping, messy handwriting nothing like her neat but small scrawl, 'Signed, Your Secret Enemy'. She set it back down and surveyed it, taking a couple of steps back. It looked good, she had to admit. It was extremely clear. The students would see the drawing minutes before Alecto would; the Carrows were always right on time to classes, while usually the students were early so as to avoid getting detention for tardiness. Her message would be shown, and nobody would dare to erase it; if anybody did, Alecto would claim they were protecting somebody. It would be seen.

December, 1997.

"I'm glad to be leaving," sighed Isabelle, one of Astoria's four roommates. Isabelle was half-blood, something that set her apart from the other four girls. Personally, Astoria didn't care, but Delia, Jacqueline, and Cassandra often brought it up every time they had an argument with the other girl. Isabelle's blood status meant that she cared even less for the Carrows; the other three girls were advocates of pureblood superiority, and then there was Astoria, who acted relatively neutral, although occasionally disdainful, in order to avoid too much suspicion.

Astoria's anti-Carrow chalkboard drawing had been the first of many messages left all over the school. They were spaced randomly apart, in order to avoid detection; one time she did it two nights in a row, while a different time she waited nearly eleven days between messages. She drew pictures, usually of the Carrows in a negative light, although sometimes she preferred simply to write a message - often rude and not appropriate for anybody under fourth year - somewhere it would certainly be seen. She always signed it 'Your Secret Enemy', and she was, therefore, indirectly famous around Hogwarts, not that anybody knew it was her. The Secret Enemy, however, was just as talked-about as the D.A.

"Hogwarts is different," Astoria said calmly, not letting her voice betray any emotion. "It's changed." That right there, she thought, was true Slytherin tactic; she neither agreed nor disagreed with what Isabelle said, yet still kept the conversation moving along. She'd seen it used before, and, she would admit, it was extremely useful in a situation such as that. She had no desire to argue with any of her roommates, as it was very tedious. She was definitely Slytherin. Of course.

Even as she thought that, she found herself thinking back to her Sorting, not for the first - or last - time that year. The Hat had mentioned that she would have done well in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and up to this point, she never really saw it. She knew that she was slightly different from the other Slytherins, considering her disdain for pureblood superiority, but this was something she - in Slytherin fashion - kept hidden. But this year was certainly bringing out the other side of her. Her clever plan to fight back against the Carrows without being discovered was certainly something a Ravenclaw could have come up with; the fact that she was fighting back at all was very Gryffindor.

She would have thought about it further, but suddenly the train came to a shuddering halt much before it was due to reach its final destination. That had only happened once before, on her very first ride here. The Dementors had come aboard, looking for Sirius Black. She half-expected to see Dementors again this time, and vaguely wished, in the back of her mind, that she could actually perform a Patronus Charm. It wasn't Dementors that entered the compartment, however.

It was a Death Eater; Astoria noticed that instantly. It wasn't anybody that she had seen before, but she could see the top of the Dark Mark poking out beneath their left sleeve. The man caught her looking and tugged it down, saying, "Is Luna Lovegood here?"

They shook their heads, but he didn't seem completely convinced. He hovered in the doorway, reluctant to come in yet also reluctant to leave. He obviously didn't know what Luna looked like, and couldn't be sure they were lying. He didn't seem particularly smart, either, but despite that, Isabelle was still pressed back against the bench as far as one could go. She was a half-blood, after all, and much more vulnerable to Death Eaters than Astoria, Delia, Jacqueline, or Cassandra. The latter three were looking curiously at the man; Cassandra even raised a hand in greeting, although he didn't do any more than nod at her.

It was Astoria, finally, who stood up. "Luna Lovegood is not in this compartment. She is a sixth year Ravenclaw; all of us are fifth years, not to mention Slytherins. I must ask that you please get out of here; we do not need a babysitter." She was tempted to add 'much less an incompetent one' to the end of her statement but, at the last second, had decided that being snarky to a Death Eater was probably begging to be used as Unforgivable Curse practice.

The Death Eater left, and Astoria sat back down feeling rather pleased with herself.

March, 1998

Astoria finished her drawing - this one of Amycus Carrow writhing under the Cruciatus Curse, while a crowd of students cheered, their arms up in the air. The light from her wand illuminated the chalkboard enough so she could see it, although the light was minimal enough where it shouldn't be noticed by somebody walking by. She wrote a quick note under it, as was the case almost every time. 'I wish you'd get detention, Amycus. We'd be thrilled. Signed, Your Secret Enemy'. Smiling slightly, she set the chalk back down and crept out of the room.

She was becoming an expert at sneaking around. She had practiced walking so that her feet were almost silent, and she knew where most of the moving staircases, hidden doors, and creaky spots were. It was a talent, one that had only become honed in the past five months. She heard footsteps and froze in place; until she was certain where they were coming from, she wouldn't dare run. Otherwise, she might run directly into somebody she was trying to avoid. If the Carrows caught her out of bed, they would assume she was the Secret Enemy, and they'd be right.

A shadow moved at the end of the corridor. Astoria backed up, keeping her eye on the shadow, silently hoping that it was something benign, like a fluttering tapestry. She was moving quickly, and as a result she was surprised when she backed right into somebody. "Shit," she hissed, pulling her cloak up to hide her face and taking a few steps. A hand grabbed her arm, and she twisted out of the grip, causing her cloak to fall. But it wasn't a Carrow, a teacher, or a prefect. It was another student, one who shouldn't be out of bed either.

The girl was a seventh year, by the looks of her, and definitely Gryffindor. The red-and-gold scarf wrapped around her neck proved that. Astoria had seen her around; she knew the older girl's name was Parvati Patil, and had gone to the Yule Ball with Harry Potter. That was the main reason Astoria knew who she was. In the time around the Yule Ball, Parvati had become something of a minor celebrity around Hogwarts for being Harry Potter's date. "Who are you?" Parvati whispered, looking all around. The older girl's eyes finally came to rest on Astoria's clothing; her emerald pajamas and the dark green and silver cloak she wrapped around herself. Parvati's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

"Yes, I'm a Slytherin," Astoria murmured back. "But I hate the Carrows just as much as the D.A. does. And I freaking saw something move at the end of that corridor, so can we go?"

Parvati sprang into action. Side-by-side the girls ran through the corridors, footsteps echoing far behind them. They headed up and up, way too far from Slytherin for Astoria's liking, but as they reached the seventh floor Parvati paced back and forth in front of a blank section of wall. A door sprang into existence, and the girls darted inside.

"What just happened?" Astoria looked around. It was a small room, empty except for a couple of chairs. "What is this place? Merlin, I've never been in here before."

"It's the Room of Requirement. It becomes whatever a person needs. Now...who are..." Parvati let the question trail off as the pieces clicked together. "You're the Secret Enemy. That's why you're so sneaky, and you don't want anybody to know who you are. You're a Slytherin. And I'd bet my whole collection of accessories that's why you were out just now. We're going to see another drawing or note this morning, aren't we?"

Astoria shrugged. "You'll have to wait and see."

May, 1998.

The Slytherins were being led away; they were going to be put somewhere else while the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws fought the Death Eaters. Professor Slughorn was herding the students, keeping an eye on them. Not a very watchful one, though, she noted; he stopped to say something to a nervous third year and Astoria made her move. She pushed her way out of the crowd and ran ahead of them. Everybody watched her go, certain that she was simply eager to get out of the way and save herself. In fact, it was the opposite.

She dove into an abandoned classroom and tore off her robes, cloak, and tie to reveal simple Muggle clothing underneath. Over the Easter holidays she had sneaked out of the house and found her way to the nearest Muggle neighborhood, buying some clothes from there. They were much easier to run in since she wouldn't trip over them, not to mention the shoes were quieter, and she wore them almost every time she went to do something Secret Enemy-related. She had taken to wearing them under her robes, as well, and she was especially glad that she had tonight.

Astoria rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a hair elastic. She quickly tied her hair back, sweeping it into a bun. Nobody would recognize her; at least, they wouldn't recognize her as a Slytherin. Sure, some people in her own year might, but they weren't supposed to be there any more than she was.

She crept out and almost instantly, bumped into two girls. "Astoria?" the taller one - Demelza Robins, a Gryffindor fifth year - asked, looking shocked. "What are you doing?"

Romilda, the other girl, raised her dark eyebrows. "Please tell me that you aren't some Death Eater supporter. I'd rather not have to kill somebody who I once paired up with in Charms."

Astoria rolled her eyes. "The Death Eaters are a bunch of bastards, and I'm fighting against them. As are you, obviously."

"Yeah," Demelza admitted. "You should stay with us, then, if you're fighting against them. You'll be safer than if you were alone."

"All right." It made sense, she knew; although she certainly was a talented fifth year, she was still only a sixteen-year-old, and she would be fighting against people who were more than twice or three times her age, and knew many more spells than she could ever dream of knowing at her age. The three of them, together, would be much more efficient.

The battle itself was intense, more so than anything Astoria had ever done. The whole time she was focused on protecting herself, Demelza, and Romilda; they fought nicely as a team together. Two Gryffindors and a Slytherin, not only on the same side, but working together to achieve something. She thought back to her Sorting, when the Hat had considered placing her in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and, at the time, she had thought it ridiculous. After the events of this year, she wasn't so sure. Maybe it didn't matter so much, what House somebody was in; people made a big deal out of it. It mattered what the person was like, and Astoria was determined on one thing.

She was determined not to be a stereotypical Slytherin: evil, hating Gryffindors and Muggle-borns, and believing in pureblood superiority. During the battle she made a mental note that, if she survived, she would make sure that she wasn't a stereotypical Slytherin. It was her goal.

It took her a while to realize she had already achieved that.

I love Astoria, actually, I think she's a really interesting character. Huh, me and my minor characters...I love Morag MacDougal, too. Anyway, I'm sorry to all you Draco/Astoria fans. I didn't want to include it because, first of all, it wouldn't fit well in this particular story, and second of all, I'm one of the people who believes they got together after Hogwarts. I do love the couple, though!

This is a oneshot and will not be continued.

Thanks for reading, everybody!