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Asteria Greengrass
Asteria Greengrass Avatar
Slytherin
90 posts
36 years old
Matron
Herbologist
Potioneer

University of Bangor Alum
Hogwarts
played by Steph
"I have stars in my mouth—might you forgive me?"
options

Post by Asteria Greengrass on Dec 16, 2017 21:44:35 GMT -5

Astoria Mahidevran Greengrass
by StEph
36
age
Woman
gender
07/21/1982
birthday
blood status
pureblood
sexual orientation
"It really doesn't matter, especially when it can help"
epidemic x status
IMMUNE
occupation
Hogwarts Matron | Potioneer | Herbologist
general appearance
Tall-- she’s no strapping six footer, but near 5’9 is not much to blink at. Like most pureblood girls, she knows how to play with her height: how to impose to seem taller, how to adjust to seem shorter. Soft brown hair, clear skin, shrewd light eyes. She never was a girl who was fated to grow into a great beauty of her generation, and Astoria had never quite minded that, as she’s still attractive enough for her own purposes. A steady walk, a steady talk, expressive eyebrows.

former school
Hogwarts
former house
Slytherin
achievements
Prefect (1997 - 1998)

Leader of Potions Club, Herbology Club, and Chorus during that same year.

Graduated with O's in Herbology, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and E's in DADA and Astronomy during a pregnancy.

university
University of Bangor
university major(s)
Herbology, Potioneering
years attended
2001 - 2005

skills
Herbology, first and foremost. she's so gentle with plants that at times it can be forgotten she's toying with white snakeroot.
lying-- good gods, she's very good at lying and playing the part.
Potions, Charms, keeping cool under pressure.
Extremely steady hands and dexterous fingers. It's those things that make her such a good Healer. (not the playing with the dangerous plants-- she says she doesn't do that unless she's positive she's not on the clock)
self-preservation-- she'd sell nearly anyone out to save her skin, if it won't hurt her later.
Manipulation-- other people, herself, objects, it doesn't really matter.
Also, it doesn't look like it, but she's a whiz at wrestling Venomous Tentacula and other plants that like to move.

And well, she's a Healer. There's two sides to being a Healer-- helping, and harming. She's good at jinxes and hexes, as benefitted a young pureblood girl, but also good at turning Healing charms inside out. Not that she does, or would, but sometimes it helps for people to have a reminder not to do something after everything's been Healed away.
weaknesses
She wants safety, for both herself and her daughter. More of a weakness because of what she’d do for it, really.
Her daughter, another one. Hyperion, though she keeps that locked away (especially as she's more-or-less-implying that she's responsible for his death).
Anthony they were friends, after all, and it still sometimes pinches. she doesn't know if she loved him or not. she thinks she might have.(she did). She’s a thinker, a rationer-- sudden changes set her off-balance.
She. . .she wants to be loved, especially by daphne.
Emotions-- they're inconvenient, really, and difficult to grasp.
Draco-- what might have been? didn't she love him too, after all?
positive traits
Adaptable, alert, anticipative, articulate, charismatic, clever, contemplative, cooperative, cultured, curious, disciplined, discreet, focused, hardworking, methodical, meticulous, observant, organized, persuasive, rational, resourceful, respectful, scholarly, shrewd, tolerant
negative traits
Ambitious, aloof at times, arguably amoral, calculating, conformist, cynical, curious, deceptive, disloyal, false, opportunistic, phlegmatic, regretful, repressed, scheming, selfish. steely. anthony's family and her daughter would doubtless add a lot more but she'd prefer not to say them.
hobbies/interests
Herbology, Healing, Potions, researching and creating, reading, learning, attending seminars, ballroom dancing, flower-and-plant arranging, Ancient Runes, tea leaf reading (do not ask her why, she doesn't know)
accomplishments
rather more of them are emotional more than award-based.

character history
Oddly enough, her name has been spelled (and therefore pronounced) four different ways on all the documents that mattered. On her birth certificate, she was called Asteria, on her Hogwarts letter she was called Astoria, her wedding certificate called her Astœria, and her divorce papers referred to her as Astœria. All are her name, none are her name. Oddly enough, her middle name has never been mispelled on any of them.


Asteria Mahidevran Greengrass (or so it had been written) was born on July 21st, 1981. She was quieter than her older sister had been, a small, nearly shy child. The Dark Lord had fallen nine months before, and the Greengrasses were careful to keep their wands and hands clean, careful to have an excuse to avoid Azkaban. Asteria had been born into peacetime-conflict, as Death Eaters were hunted down as sent away to Azkaban, for all that her first memories are of calm.

Asteria was introduced to to the normal child playgroups that those with her name were expected to. Most of her friends were from there, and she was relatively close enough in age to Daphne that the parents might leave them all to play at times. Daphne never quite cared about her younger sister tagging along with her-- she had much more glorious friends who would surely account to more than an annoying baby sister. It took rather more words than that, but Asteria caught the message quite easily. Her childhood was light and easy-- she'd shown magic relatively young, quashing any fears she might be a Squib.

Seeing she liked plants from a young age, her parents gave her a greenhouse for her seventh birthday, and Astoria spent what summer days she could there, went there after fights with her older sister. Everything was green and yellow and red and orange and pink and blue and purple-- there were so many colors, so much life. She gloried in it.


Her Hogwarts letter came, her name spelled Astoria Mahidevran, and Astoria went off to Hogwarts in 1993. With just a minute of consideration of Ravenclaw, Astoria was Sorted into Slytherin. That wasn't near enough to make her sister proud of her, of course-- Daphne only dropped a remark that she half-worried Astoria might have been Sorted into Hufflepuff. She learned Defense Against the Dark Arts from a werewolf, Transfiguration from a part-time cat, Charms from a part-goblin, Potions from a former Death Eater, and Herbology from--
In Herbology, Astoria shone. In Herbology, she was no longer Daphne's little sister, chasing after a hand that was never outstretched, but a student, a person in her own right. She'd played with the plants in her greenhouse enough before Hogwarts, tended them as they grew-- but she'd always assumed their continued life was due to diligent house-elfs commanded to allow her the fantasy of thinking she was responsible for them. Shortly after the first class, Astoria's fingernails were nearly never spotless, usually with dirt in the corner of her nails, nearly-embedded in there.

There was something beautiful, somehow sacred in growing things, in being responsible for them, in coaxing a near-dead moly back to life. But she was a Greengrass, Sacred Twenty-Eight, younger sister to Daphne Greengrass-- she couldn't spend all her hours in the greenhouse, much as she would like to. The most she could do was ask Sprout what plants she would recommend, and carry over her love of Herbology into Potions.
In her Second year, Astoria tried brewing a perfume for her sister. It went awfully, and Astoria ended up trying to hide the evidence before it could stink up the dorm. She followed her sister's instructions to cheer for the Hufflepuff, tried to get her sister to like her, and dutifully cheered for Professor Sprout's boy. At the end of the year, she asked her parents what would happen to them if Potter was correct in his claim. Her worry was brushed under the carpets, and she was told to forget about it-- in colder words, of course.

She didn't quite mind her Third year, learning practicum and theory, and somehow got tangled up with . It wasn't like some great story-- she caught him reading an advanced DADA book, threatened to turn him into Daphne and her friends to have his Prefect badge suspended, he'd laughed, and Remedial Herbology fell out of the book. She gave him a few pointers then, trying to show that she knew better (which she did), and excited to talk about Herbology. She didn't see him for the rest of the year, and it didn't bother her-- but oh, then it turned out Potter wasn't lying and the Dark Lord was back, and suddenly they were in a war.

Her Fourth year, she spent mostly preparing for OWLs. They were still some time away, but she'd decided she wanted to be a Healer, so whatever she had weaknesses in, she had to improve. She'd known in a distant sort of way-- they were purebloods of similar ages, and her sister was perhaps one of his friends-- but she'd walked in on him in a bathroom. A sort of kinship then bloomed between them. He'd told her he was a Death Eater, and. . .so were her parents. They were older, though, well-grown and used to cruelness. Draco was two years older than her, and Death Eaters were often in danger. She knew from her sister he was skilled in magic, but everyone could face greater enemies. Everyone could face people who knew better, and though she knew him but little, she didn't want to see him hurt.

In the summer after Draco's mission, her parents gifted her with a Chimera's Joy. She knew better than to ask how they got it-- all she cared about was that they approved of her plans to be a Herbologist.

In her Fifth year, the Dark Lord reigned. Astoria was Prefect, incidentally, but she was sure that had nothing to do with it. It could have been Lucretia, Kate, or Jocelyn-- they were all pureblood after all, and Kate was also Sacred Twenty-Eight-- but it was Astoria who had to represent her dorm, her name, and her House to the best of her availability. She was a Greengrass after all, pure of blood and better than most. Her families had centuries of history and magic, and that was worth something, wasn't it? The blood in her veins was better, was worth more than the blood twisting through the veins of magic-stealers and half-bloods-- wasn't it? When Astoria was called upon to do a detention, she struggled with the Cruciactus (on Anthony Goldstein, somehow), and threw up after it. It was her OWL year, she didn't-- didn't have time for-- this weakness, because everyone said-- they said--

And that was the problem. They said, there wasn't proof-- the only proof that it was true were from the ones who claimed it. What an utterly inconvenient time to realize this, to come to terms with it. There wasn't much that she could do about it, especially being a Prefect. But what she could-- not notice, sometimes, she had to tell herself was something. Her moment of joy was when she was next called to give detentions, and she'd called out the Cruciactus with glee. The student (a First year this time, it made Astoria's stomach twist) screamed automatically and once the girl realized Astoria hadn't truly cursed her she'd sent the smallest of winks, before calling out the curse again. The First year was a quick learner, and screamed, writhing and twisting almost as if she was being tortured (the girl knew what it was like, by the gods, she was only eleven), and Astoria found out shortly after that word had traveled through the girl's friends and even a few like-minded older students, who would scream and react to her as she pretended to curse them. She was successful-- though when she was told to try getting some blood, she had to acquiescence. There were no plants that would mimic it so easily that she could plant on them not without it becoming suspicious. She had to truly preform the Curse a few times, and was almost horrified at her lack of reaction. Draco was with her for most of it, helping her patrol, helping her keep her head and sanity.

When the Battle happened, she fled with her sisters, feeling as close to Daphne as the older girl would ever let her be. That is, until her older sister left her, and Astoria had to help herself stay sane by trying to comfort younger students. Daphne vanished with Eudora sometime during that, and when Astoria eventually made her way to the castle to try and really find out what happened, she was asked to identify her parents.

With her parents found dead, there was no denying that they were Death Eaters when the Marks stood on their arms, and their homes and gold were confiscated. Astoria had one goal now-- lose her name, keep herself safe. Daphne didn't care about her, had never cared about her and with the death of their parents, wasn't about to start doing so. At fifteen, Astoria considered herself more or less on her own, barely having OWLs under her belt. Daphne and Eudora were still missing, and most of her cousins were be far too Dark to be safely under the care of. Astoria went to stay with someone who had been a family friend of sorts, though relied on her as little as she could, with the belief she was near-enough adult to do so. She returned to Hogwarts the next year, keeping her head high, dove into studies to distract herself. She would be a NEWT student, she might be a Healer-- if anyone would ever take her now.

There were a list of men she'd made who would be safest to bury her name under. They had to be half-blood or Muggle-born-- what better way to prove that she was not her parents?-- not from Slytherin house, no close ally of the Greengrass family, and preferably, someone who was in Harry Potter's army-- a veteran of the battle of Hogwarts ought not to be too difficult to find. Around her age would be best, as to not make it too obvious.

Head and heart diverged then.

Her Sixth year was spent searching and narrowing it down to a few names that would prove safest for her, quietest to hide Greengrass in. She also turned to Draco, because he was hurt and she was hurt, and he felt safe. A lifeline she could pull herself to, keeping herself as anchored as can be.

She did what she could: tried to beg Sprout to let her help people struggling in Herbology, spent most of her free times haunting the library and the greenhouses. If she couldn't make herself thrive, then she could soak in the greens and make sure they were well. Jocelyn had an Italian marriage made to take her when she graduated and was fighting at the reins, Lucretia had transferred to Beauxbatons, Kate's brother was injured and she was silent unless spoken to and acting out when outside. She doubted that those in school who knew her best noticed it at all, as wrapped as as they were in their own tragedies that they had suffered.

Anthony was of three options, and luck had it that she ran into him first. She'd meant to manipulate him. She'd meant to twist him around and make it so that he'd take her and she'd be safe. But fate and luck had other plans, and-- it wasn't successful. So she tried again, and again. What happened later that year was not in her plans-- it was a Hogsmeade weekend, and she'd. . .had fun. She didn't think she'd grinned and meant it since her parents had died, had really laughed since Dumbledore died. Over a year passed before she could blink and. . .

She'd became an accomplished brewer. She was good with herbs and potions and charms and it--
it didn't work, but it was the answer to what she needed, it was useful, and so she. . kept it, and told him once she was certain. She didn't expect the nervousness, the fear she'd felt. She'd told herself that it was just because she wasn't sure if her plan would work, but when she returned to Hogwarts later that weekend, her name was safe.


Astœria had. . .she'd made a mistake. She let herself get too attached to both, let herself get reckless and there was surprisingly a lot that could fit into sort-of small times. She didn't know for certain, likely would not if ever, but--

Astœria Mahidevran Goldstein was a name that people could ignore, not Astoria Malfoy. So it had to be Anthony she was with, and Anthony would believe himself the father. It couldn't be Draco, not this lifetime, as much as she might regret it. She didn't really tell Daphne until she had to-- Daphne had never cared, she'd thought with a younger sister's hurt, so why would she now?-- half-dreading it. She was of age, she was under the protection of a safer name, a name which had been in Potter's army, had fought and been successful in the battle her parents died in, a half-blood name with ties to those who helped bring down Grindelwald. She almost couldn't ask for more.

She kept her pregnancy quiet in Hogwarts. It might have been suspected-- the quick and silent elopement of the middle Greengrass girl, but Astœria battled through morning sickness and stuck to her now-established routine of staying in the greenhouses and ignoring everyone if they weren't Professor Sprout or friends of her family. (Daphne was furious when she found out. Astœria told herself she was too exhausted to care.) Daphne, legally the leader of the Greengrass family after their father's death, still refused marriage, would continue to do so. If Daphne disowned her sister, then what little gold and the history of the name would pass to cousins Daphne didn't have a thumb on influencing, as Eudora could easily be claimed by them.

After graduating Hogwarts, she started at the University of Bangor, studying while struggling through her pregnancy and starting as a Healer-in-Training. She saw Anthony rarely while she was in school, and she told herself it didn't matter. It half-confused her, how he cared so much: for her, for their unborn child, for his parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, for his younger cousins and older cousins alike. Oh, she knew Kate loved her brother and Draco his mother, but she'd always half-thought that was an exception, a special case, that familial relationships like that didn't happen anywhere else but child's books. Five or so months later, Astoria gave birth to Hyperion Ariel Greengrass, naming him in the customs of both their families.

Hyperion grew to be as golden-blonde as their fathers, as her older sister. She was fascinated by her son, and shortly after Astœria began the final year of her studies at Bangor, and finished her Healer training, she found out that she was pregnant again. Nearly as soon as it began to be celebrated, Hyperion died in his sleep. The next few months were a blur-- Astœria barely remembered taking her exams, finishing her year, or giving birth. Tamara Selene was prenamed, and it took a handful of years to feel something again. During that time, she worked in Saint Mungo's and began working in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, if only to keep away from her daughter. It was almost too painful-- where Hyperion had been golden, babbling and blonde, Tamara was solemn and more like Asteria had been.

As things worsened, Astœria found herself waking up, fighting up from the darkness. Conditions worsened for Daphne-- like her situation, she grew unrepentant, colder and crueler. Astœria found herself bonding with the students, having a softer touch than she'd thought she had. It was Anthony rubbing off on her, she thought. Years passed, and Astœria found the world turning as she carved out her own safe space in it.

Hyperion never lived to show his first sign of magic. He never received his letter, never boarded the train at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Astœria was able to get past the Sorting that should have been his, but when it came time for her daughter to go-- she couldn't deal with the Sorting, couldn't see her daughter Sorted into a House where her older brother wouldn't be cheering with her. It was was almost worse, as she could not then deny that Hyperion ought to have been there. So in 2014, she took a leave of absence. She didn't now when she'd come back, but she couldn't before her daughter entered Hogwarts. It wasn't much of a break, as she worked in Mungo's, back in general practice (she refused to help those under five. she couldn't-- it was too painful). She'd needed to learn more, learn differently, she'd said. She'd intended to be away for more time than she was, but then Healer Ayers left. Astœria returned to being Matron in the fall of 2016, resolving herself to not fall apart.


(Astöria Mahidevran told Anthony they needed to divorce for his safety when Ares took over, for Tamara's sake. She could protect her if she were Greengrass-raised-- being raised by Goldsteins would only put them at risk. Astöria didn't expect it to hurt so much that he'd agreed within ten minutes.)

She was Astoria Mahidevran Greengrass again, Healer Greengrass for the first time. The name felt odd, and Astoria slipped into an old skin that she'd found she'd never been quite comfortable in. But Greengrasses always played the part, and Astoria was Slytherin to her bones. Tamara was a Second year, able to understand, able to question, able to mourn and grieve.

She let it be known she'd married Anthony only for the name and protection it gave her during the Shacklebolt and Durant years. She implied it was no accident that Hyperion hadn't survive, made sure her daughter knew that they could only interact if Tamara had an injury. She did whatever she could to keep herself safe, her small family safe. She didn't care what it was, what the cost might be to her reputation, to her name.

Daphne allowed her in once more, perhaps the kindest thing she'd done. It was selfishness, Astoria knew. Daphne wanted an heir she would control, without having pushed one from her belly, and Astoria's children would be raised under Daphne's influence. It had nothing to do with care for Astoria, merely the service Astoria would provide. She took it anyway, too desperate to see the other options.

parents
Leyla Fawley and Anthion Greengrass
siblings
Daphne Greengrass (1979), Eudora Mulciber (1985)
children
Hyperion Ariel Goldstein (2001-2003), Tamara Selene Goldstein (2004), Adonis Iasion Greengrass (2017)
partner
(first, might-have-been)
(divorced, certainly was)
Theodore Nott (Estranged husband, presently in Russia)
other family
Greengrasses and Fawleys most directly, followed by the newest heirs of Mulciber and the direct main line of Notts, as well most of the pureblood families in Great Britain, if more distantly. It's easier to say those she's not distantly related to, really.

The Widow Shafiq may or may not count as one of those, as she's been married to two different uncles.

Her grandmothers hail from great Turkish families-- Thracian and Ottoman, more specifically.

{link}
family history
The Greengrass family originally hails from Greece-- more specifically, around Eleusis in West Attica, an area said to be favored by Demeter. There the family prospered for centuries, until the Roman empire began to split. Their ancestors then immigrated to Britannia, settling in Wales. Their success with growing continued, and they made a name and fortune for themselves, growing and selling rare or decorative flora. Every so often, there might be a member of the family who turned to farming instead, and made crops prosper, however those were rare.

They were named for the lush grasses that marked the borders of their lands. Though the land is now covered by woodlands, some of the greenery continues to grow in carefully-tended areas on the Head's estate in England. The main Welsh estate is where children are raised, and while remnants of their Greek heritage linger in naming, a few sayings, and architecture, the family overall views itself as Welsh, no matter the English, Basque, Scottish, Irish, or (more recently) Turkish blood that's married in.

Sons were raised to be researchers and Herbology masters, daughters to tend their plants and make Potions. Even a poor horticulturalist might find luck in discoveries or in a cauldron. As the years went through, inheritance customs changed with the times, into some odd mixture of English custom (the land the Head would reside in) and Welsh (where the family would be raised). Heirs must be acknowledged by the head of the family, and acknowledged natural children had the same chances as legitimate children, in deference to Welsh customs. The titles and honors passed in a male-preference primogeniture, where brothers stood before sisters, and daughters before uncles-- if all were acknowledged by the Head of the family, that was. No natural son would come before an aunt, unless the head of the family marked him as heir. Still, messy situations were kept from happening for the most part, due to the Head of the family selecting who was to be counted in inheritance.

other
Mentions of Anthony and Draco approved by their roleplayers.
face claim
Pelin Karahan
status of application
complete
have you read the rules?
break them in style
how did you hear about us?
Stargazing
roleplay sample
Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?
Pointing fingers 'cause you'll never take the blame like me?

And all the people say--
You can't wake up, this is not a dream.
You're part of a machine, you are not a human being.
With your face all made up, living on a screen,
Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline.




(i  t h i n k   t h e r e ' s  a   f l a w   i n   m y c o d e)

Admin Morgan
Admin Morgan Avatar
staff
8,041 posts
26 years old
Administrator
played by Morgan
"Life ain't all blueberries and paper airplanes, you know what I mean."
options

Post by Admin Morgan on Dec 26, 2017 16:06:09 GMT -5

[attr="class","staffupdatedstemp"]Pending!

Hey so! You weren’t on AR because of your absence so had to do some counting but this is just a little too much to do to use a staff favor to sort her! Try to knock some of this off then you could use the favor if you want! :D

- didn’t have any posts for November, or December so far, so she needs three!
-@blaise only had one post for November, so he needs three more.
-@blanche needs one!
- needs two!
- had no posts for November, needs three!
- had no posts for November, needs three!
- had no posts for November, needs three!
- needs one!
- needs two!
-@melina needs two!
- needs one!
-@bones needs two!
- needs one!

And from free app weekend:
- hasn’t been posted with yet. She needs five!
- only has one post, needs four more.
-@jocelyn hasn’t been posted with yet, needs five posts!
- doesn’t have her five posts. She needs three!
- needs four!
Asteria Greengrass
Asteria Greengrass Avatar
Slytherin
90 posts
36 years old
Matron
Herbologist
Potioneer

University of Bangor Alum
Hogwarts
played by Steph
"I have stars in my mouth—might you forgive me?"
options

Post by Asteria Greengrass on Dec 28, 2017 23:52:31 GMT -5

The older characters have been caught up to AR! <3
Admin Morgan
Admin Morgan Avatar
staff
8,041 posts
26 years old
Administrator
played by Morgan
"Life ain't all blueberries and paper airplanes, you know what I mean."
options

Post by Admin Morgan on Dec 29, 2017 14:46:30 GMT -5

[attr="class","staffupdatedstemp"]Accepted!