As Wicked as They Come

[Natasia]

A/N: Hey, been working on this for awhile and thought I would post it here.

CHAPTER ONE:

With an end of a great war, such as the final battle between the Dark Lord and the Boy Who lived, the world shifts and changes. New policies are put in place, new leaders take a stand, and people try to reform their lives. For the good and the better. At least that is the general idea. But as Astoria Greengrass stood at the top of the grand entrance staircase of her home, she watched the employees of the Ministry take down and remove the artifacts of her home. The very artifacts that have been in her family for many generations before. She gripped the banister, her knuckles slowly turning more white, her gaze towards the Ministry workers turning more cold. She felt a cool hand on her shoulder forcing the young girl to glance behind her. "Calm down. We do not want to get our family in any more trouble than it already is." Her mother whispered as she slowly removed her hand from Astoria's shoulder.

"But my father, your husband, just died!" Astoria snapped her voice low in a whisper. "They have no sensitivity."

"Of course your father did die a Death Eater, attacking Hogwarts along side the Dark Lord."

"Still doesn's mean they have the right to do this."

"According to the new Ministry, they do." Her mother countered as she lightly gripped her daughter's shoulder. "Now listen carefully, To get ahead in life you must adapt and change a long with the times. To deal with these sort of situation with complete class. Prove that you are better by acting with dignity. Keep your secrets close to your heart and trust no one. Now smile and go collect your older sister."

Astoria nodded, slowly shutting her mouth. The sixteen year old knew all to well to never give her mother grief when she gave her advice. For whether anyone knew it or not, Mrs. Greengrass was a very wise woman...





... and Astoria always took her mother's advice to heart, and used it in her everyday life. Even long after her mother's death. And with that death, Daphne, Astoria's older sister, inherited the family home by being the eldest daughter. Though Astoria didn't mind the situation, the young woman moved out on her own as soon as her seventeenth birthday rolled around. It wasn't the fact that Daphne inherited everything but the fact that there was nothing the two girls could relate on. Each being polar opposites of each other.

Daphne was fair, blond, and the girl that the boys chased. Astoria was studious, had deep auburn hair and deep brown eyes. Astoria was the girl that blended well within the crowd. She allowed her older sister to take the center stage, to foolishly draw attention to herself, and to allow her mistakes be her own downfall. Because Astoria was like her mother, a woman who waited for the opportunity to prove that she was much more than a pretty face.

So as Astoria stepped out of her small flat deep with the busy streets of London, she had pure hope and confidence. Today was her first day of interning under the many Aurors at the Ministry of Magic. Today was the day that she was going to prove that she wasn't like the other members in her family. So for the past year, she had been training and studying hard to join the ranks of many witches and wizards that helped defend the wizardry world. All those late nights of studying, and practicing all her defensive spells and potions were about to pay off... or so she hoped.

After making a quick stop at her local bakery, she made her way in to the Ministry rushing towards the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She slowly slipped inside and glanced around. The room was filled with familiar faces of those who trained along side her for the past year. All of which looked extremely nervous. Her deep brown eyes fell on a bouncy red head and a wide smile appeared on her face. Pushing her way through the crowd, she rushed towards the red head. "Janelle!" She said excitedly. "Glad to see you decide to continue on."

Janelle shrugged, her nose wrinkling. "I figured I worked so hard, I should keep going."

"Good attitude."

"Yeah well, looking at the Aurors we will be working for." Janelle started as her hazel eyes darted towards the front of the room. "How could I not continue on?"

Astoria shook her head in amusement. Janelle always seemed to entertain her even when she didn't want to be. The two girls made their way to two empty seats towards the front.

Slowly but surely, the room filled with the rest of the interns and Astoria glanced forward as she slowly crossed a leg over the other, anxious to get started. A tall, broad shoulder man stood before them. He was one of the senior Aurors in the program and one of the first people that Astoria met when she started her training. His name was James Ferro and he was completely hard to please. Even staring up at him made Astoria slowly shrink in her seat. "Welcome interns. I'm sure you all are very excited to get started." He stated as his stern gray eyes scanned over each hopeful face in the room.

"But know this, by the end of this program, not all of you will be accepted." He continued as he started to pace before them. "We don't accept weakness and anything less than the best. Make a mistake, prepare to be remove from this program."

The room filled with a deafening silence. The tension that came sent a small chill down Astoria's spine. "Now, all of you will be sorted into small work groups led by some of my own Aurors. These are your leaders and you will report to them first, follow their commands, and they are the ones who control their fate. If they feel that you are not for the program then you shouldn't expect to become a full Auror."

Astoria's brown eyes scanned over the five young Aurors behind Ferro and took a good look over them. They all looked nice enough, and only one was familiar. Draco Malfoy. He was leaning back in his seat, looking completely amused about something. He was an older member of her former Hogwarts House, in her sisters year. And the fact that he was a former Death Eater made Astoria surprised he was an Auror.

Turning her gaze quickly back towards Ferro, she crossed her fingers over her lap and waited to find out who would be her new leader.

Janelle and her, luckily were in the same group, but their leader just so happened to be Draco Malfoy. Janelle was gleefully happy whereas Astoria was wherry.

Draco led Astoria and the group towards their part of the department, which was a rather large cubicle in the far corner. It was lined with several desks. "Take a seat, I'll hand out the assignments." Draco ordered as he walked towards the desk in the front.

Astoria and Janelle took a quick glance at each other before they took seats on the opposite ends of the cubicle. They both new better than to sit together, in the end they both would be too distracted to do work. Astoria placed her bag on her desk, rubbing her fingers along her black pleated skirt not believing how nervous she was.

Draco hand delivered each assignment to each member until he reached Astoria. His silver blue eyes scanned over her quickly, forcing her to raise a brow slowly in response. He handed over her a small pile of paperwork. "Read over these and write a synopsis of each one." He explained.

Astoria nodded, moving her bag to the floor. "Do I know you?" Draco asked. The tone of his voice annoyed her a little.

Astoria slowly glanced up, brushing her hair off her shoulder mimicking her sister very well. "We were in the same house for several years. You know my sister Daphne."

Draco nodded, "Awe." And with that he turned on his heel and returned to his desk. Astoria shook her head and looked towards the paperwork before her. This whole situation was proving to be more interesting than she had originally expected.

A/N: there's the first post, please leave feedback!