When Draco Malfoy passes her in the hallway in between classes, Astoria Greengrass makes sure to tread on his robes. He, in return, 'accidentally' bumps into her shoulder. Every time, every day, ever since Astoria's first year, or Draco's second.
Draco Malfoy is an insufferable know-it-all, a spoiled bastard, a selfish ass, a cruel jerk; in short, he is all the bad qualities of every single human on Earth. Astoria often cried herself to sleep because of the very harsh words he would sometimes hiss to her for being Sorted into Ravenclaw and not into Slytherin like the rest of her family; she even keeps refusing to stop trying, what if he changes?
Third year for Astoria marked the time she had a civil conversation for Malfoy and slapped him for the first time. It was when she realized he was a hopeless cause, and he wasn't going to change.
It was the Yule Ball.
"Greengrass." Astoria turns around. Draco stands straight in his pressed robes, an arm slightly extended. "Care to dance?"
"Where's your puppy?" Astoria hisses. Draco chuckles slightly.
"Let's hope my 'puppy' stays wherever she is. I didn't quite catch where she's going." Draco shrugs. "So, about that dance?"
Astoria looks around. Her date is Terry Boot, but he's dancing with a Hufflepuff girl his year. Astoria stands up. "One."
"Is more than I hoped for," Draco insists, grinning. He takes her hand and leads her onto the dance floor.
Astoria looks down as Daphne meets her eyes, wiggling her eyebrows.
"So, Tori -"
"What did you call me?" Astoria's head snaps back up. Only Daphne ever called her Tori.
For the first time since she knew him, Draco turns a bit pink.
"Sorry, it just slipped out. Um, yeah."
The rest of the dance is spent in silence, both of them too embarrassed to insult each other, orr to admit that they would rather it stays like it is.
After the dance, Terry does something very, very weird for Astoria. She's read about it, of course, Luna recounts that you're supposed to feel zingily happy, like fireworks are going off, and mixes of emotions are jumbling through your body. But Astoria feels poetically wrong, even thoough she doesn't dare remove her lips from his.
"Someone's horny tonight," a voice comments. Astoria's head whips back. Draco Malfoy stands there. His face shows a slight twinge of fury.
"W-What?" Astoria squeaks.
"I thought you were better, Greengrass. I thought that being in that damned house of yours didn't affect you as much as they said it did."
"What..." Astoria's voice is feeble.
"And Terry Boot, of all people..."
Terry looks Astoria up and down, a disgusted look on his face, then leaves.
"Why did you do it?" Astoria asks quietly.
"Should I tell y -"
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO IT?" Astoria screams, stomping up to Draco. "You have no - no rights to come and say these things! You jackass - I - I thought you were actually nice back there - and -"
Draco laughs."You thought I was - Merlin, don't make me laugh, Tori! You thought I actually give a flying fuckabout you?"
Astoria felt something wet on her cheeks, she heard pounding all around her, then it was replaced with the sound of a palm roughly connecting with a face. Draco is shocked, he has a hand on his cheek where Astoria slapped him, and his mouth hangs open.
"Listen, Malfoy." Astoria's voice is shaky but determined. "Listen well because I don't think I will have the time to deal with a douche bag like you again. I am not a toy for you to insult or embarrass. I have been trying, for three years, to convince people around me that you're a good person, you're jjust under a facade, blah blah blah. But today I'm giving up, and I'm asking you this: don't come near me, don't talk to me, forget me. And for good measure, fuck off. I don't know where I was going with this anyway. But I would rather stop trying. Bye, have a good life."
Astoria lifts the finger and walks away. She can't believe it - this was the last straw, she is done with Draco Lucius Malfoy's bullshit.
Draco punches the wall until his knuckles bleed. FuckTerry Boot, fuckPansy Parkinson, fuckhis father, and most of all, fuckAstoria Greengrass.
He wasn't supposed to care for Daphne's little sister. But Daph looks at Astoria like she was the most precious thing in the world and would probably punch him in the eye after she finds out what he did to her baby Asti. (Daphne resolves to physical stuff - she still thinks kneeing Blaise in the crotch was the proudest moment of her life, anyway.) And Daphne is Draco's best female friend, and he could recount nights spent in the common room with her, Theo, and Blaise dissing everyone and everything. Daphne was hislittle sister. Astoria?
Fuck.
He punches the wall again.
What the hell came over him anyway? So, she sucked faces with Boot. Should he give a flying fuck? No.
Astoria is my little sister's little sister. Of course -
He punches with the other hand until both his knuckles are drenched with blood.
The Dark Lord is in power. Just like that, Hogwarts is not Hogwarts anymore. Draco Malfoy is not who he was. Astoria hasn't talked to him since that night, true, but she catches glimpses of him, and he's tired. He's changed, slightly, but he's also breaking and no one seems to know it yet, and Astoria hurts for him. He's no longer snarky and arrogant. His hair isn't neatly combed anymore, seeing as he got a habit of running a hand through it.
"You're staring at Malfoy," Cassiopeia points out bluntly.
"Uh-huh." Astoria frowns. Draco just stood up, and he's yelling something at Pansy. She's yelling back from her seat at the Slytherin table.
"Oh," Aphrodite whispers, a grin barely hidden. "They're fighting, Cass; Asti wants to know when they will end it so that she and him could finally start sucking face.
"He's a fucking murderer," Astoria says through gritted teeth, lying through them.
"He crossed it," Astoria says stubbornly.
"Merlin and all things good,listen!" Blaise insists. "He was put up to it."
"Don't believe you."
"Astoria, we're his best friends," Theo says in a gentle manner. "We know about it."
"Look at it this way - you want to avenge your dad. The Dark Lord offers a Mark. You agree. He gives you a mission, a huge ass one at that, and says he's killing off everyone you love if it doesn't work out. All of us were on the list, okay? His mother tried to not have it, to have someone else do it because he's underage. He's afraid, scared. You don't seem to notice it, but Merlin, he'shuman," Daphne explains, whispering the last part.
Astoria blinks, then blurts out, "What do you mean, all of us were on the list?"
Blaise snorts. "Not my secret to share, but... fucking hell, are you that obvious?"
"Maybe, why?" Astoria answers.
"It means, that if Dumbledore was alive at this very moment, at this very moment, you - and us - would be lying six feet under ground," Theo explains, a grim smile on his face. Astoria feels that Blaise meant more than what Theo says, but lets it slide.
"Oh."
"Is right," Blaise insists. Daphne shoots him a glare; Astoria is biting the inside of her cheek. Daphne shoos the boys out with a simple glare and goes to hug her little sister tightly, who clings to her as if it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
"I'm scared," Astoria whispers.
"We all are," Daphne breathes.
"Is - Is Draco going to be okay?"
Daphne thinks for a moment. "As long as none of us fuck shit up, then yes."
Astoria's eyes follow Draco as he storms out of the Great Hall. She looks down at her plate of mashed potato, suddenly feeling queasy.
"Astoria, are you okay?" Aphrodite's face, basked with worry, falls into view.
"Asti?" Cassiopeia sucks her lips back so that she just has one thin line for a mouth.
"Fine" is all Astoria can muster.
"Do you want us to get Daphne?" Aphrodite asks.
"Dite, I'm fine," Astoria insists. "I don't know what came over me, but I'm good now."
Cassiopeia still looks disbelieving. "We're your best friends, Astoria. I mean..."
"You are," Astoria confirms, nodding. "But maybe I just felt a bit nauseous. I'm okay, I swear."
I think.
Two nights later, when Astoria can't sleep, she gets up silently and goes down in the common room, until she stands up, casts an invisibility spell over herself, and goes to the Room of Requirement. Everyone knows about it since Dumbledore's Army happened, and even more when Draco opened the Vanishing Cabinet.
Astoria is positive that the Carrows can hear her very loud heartbeat as she passes them. Or Snape. Or anyone, for that matter.
When she reaches the Room of Requirement, Astoria hears sounds that seem like sobbing, and it's male. Astoria isn't sure what to do. Howdid she land here? For Merlin's sake, she asked the Room for a place to relax, not to comfort some fifth year who's having a breakdown.
Even though Astoria is exhausted since sleep can't bother finding her, she approaches the sounds. What she finds - or who she finds - shocks her.
"Draco?"
The boy looks up. His face is tear-streaked, but even then he tries to make himself look big and intimidating.
"Go," he hisses.
"No," she says bluntly, making him stand up.
"I said go,Greengrass," he says. He still looks tired and like he wants to die any second, so Astoria crosses the space it takes to reach him and wraps her arms around his neck. Draco takes a sharp intake of breath and Astoria feels his body shake. He's falling to the ground, and Astoria goes down with him.
Draco starts crying again, this time Astoria holds him and runs her hands through his hair. Notpetting him, he thinks, relieved.
"You're okay," she breathes. "You're okay."
Draco looks up at her. "Are you?"
The question catches Astoria off-guard. "W-what..."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
When he's stopped crying, Draco straightens to look at Astoria. She looks nervous, her blue eyes darting around the room, landing on everywhere but his face.
"Tori," he whispers. Astoria's head snaps back up... again.
"Y-yeah?"
Draco takes in a sharp intake of breath. "I love you." Astoria moves to get away, but he holds her arms. Her eyes are getting teary.
"You don't even know what love is," she says accusingly.
"Love is Weasel vomiting slugs to defend the Mudblood. It's Potter not saying anything about Weaslette's relationship because he would rather she be happy with someone else if she's not with him. It's Daphne defending you no matter what. It's my mum hiding her niece because she loves her sister. It's Theo looking at Daphne when he thinks she doesn't know. It's Aphrodite tutoring Blaise because she doesn't want to see him fail, even though she's younger. It's you taking in Cassiopeia in every summer if things are bad at home." Draco takes in a deep breath. "It's me not wanting to see you with Terry Boot even if I didn't know why back then, now I do. Astoria Urania Greengrass, this sounds so fucking cheesy, but I love you every piece of my heart, every fiber of my being. And I get it if you don't. If I didn't have a stick up my ass, I would have gone straight to the Ravenclaw tower and apologized."
Astoria doesn't know. Sure, he is handsome. Sure, he is sure he loves her.
Does she?
"After the - after this war," Astoria says. "Maybe then... maybe then I'll consider."
Draco's lips are inches from hers. She somehow ended up on his lap, her legs straddling his waist, her hands around his neck, his on her waist. He has his smirk, the one that makes her heart beat faster whether it be from anger or because he looks so hot.
"I - love - you," he confirms. She wants so badly to kiss him, to have him be hers, to be his, for this war to fucking end.
"Kiss me." Astoria startles even herself, but Draco has a big smile on his face, and she loves it.
"If you insist."
Draco presses his lips against Astoria's gently. He wants it to be better than any kiss Terry Boot has given her. He wants her to love him like he loves her. He moves his hands up and down the side of her body, making sure that he doesn't touch her anywhere that might make her uncomfortable.
He lifts his lips, and she whines as if to protest, but he starts sucking at her neck. She moans, raising her head, giving him more access.
"Oh, oh, oh," Astoria whimpers. Draco lays her down on the floor and climbs on top of her, still running his hands over her body, still sucking her neck, when the door bursts open.
"Come on, Luna! Neville! We need to -"
Ginny Weasley stops dead in her tracks when she sees the scene.
"Uh. Hello."
She's awkward for a while, then when Draco rolls off Astoria to lie down next to her, Ginny speaks again.
"Everyone knew," she simply says. "You're like Ron and Hermione." She speaks of her brother and friend as if it pains her. "It's weird to not watch them bicker. I got so used to it."
Draco feels really awkward now. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood are now behind Ginny.
"Hi, Luna," Astoria says.
"Were you making out?" Neville asks bluntly.
"He was sucking her neck," Ginny explains. "Had we arrived a bit sooner we might have seen them sucking face, a bit later they would've been probably naked."
"My poor innocence, I'm not even seventeen yet!"
"You are in three days," Luna points out.
"Anyway, we're housing DA kids. And kids who need to get away from the Carrows, so could you get out?" Ginny is saying this mainly to Draco.
"He's not a murderer, if that's what you think..." Astoria says, frowning. Ginny gets a bit red on the neck.
"Well, he was supposed to -"
"Yes, have him not kill Dumbledore, have him and all the people he cares about dead!" Astoria says.
"Astoria, you know what I meant," Ginny says, noticing Draco subtly lacing his fingers through Astoria's. "Oh. You love him."
Draco looks at Astoria. Neville and Luna are silent.
"If I do?"
"I call being bridesmaid," Ginny says cheekily. "Sure, stay. If Asti trusts you... it's strange. I can say you hated each other yesterday, today you almost had sex."
Draco gives a smirk, feeling like he's friends with the Gryffindors (and Ravenclaw). "That was my plan. Then three chocolate frog wrappers interrupted us."
Neville still is wary, but laughs a bit. "'Chocolate frog wrappers'. Nice one."
It's the big battle. Draco has shown to his father - and the Dark Lord - that he doesn't give two flying fucks about them anymore. He's not with them.
Daphne was so proud of her big brother for fixing his life. Blaise and Theo stood by his side, like real, real friends. Astoria?
"Cassiopeia! CASSIOPEIA! WAKE UP! CASSIE!" Astoria is trying to revive her best friend. Cassiopeia's eyes are wide open, but the green is dull, the sin is pale, and the human is dead.
"Cassie, wake up!" Aphrodite sobs. Astoria screams, and Draco runs to her side. She sobs into his chest for a while, Blaise by Aphrodite's side, but then they get up, newly aware of the war going on around them.
"It was your aunt," Astoria gets out. "She aimed for me, but Cassie and Dite and I were running, ad she hit her instead and - and -"
"Come on, we can win this," Draco whispers in Astoria's ears. "You're strong, Tori, and I'm here for you. I love you."
Astoria still hasn't said it back. And each time it pains Draco but he doesn't say anything.
"I love you too."
They won. Astoria kissed him roughly when they did.
"Hey, Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Will you marry me?"
Draco just blurts it out, but Astoria beams. "Sure, why not?"
"Just - hold on, the ring is inside -" Draco is about to stand up, but Astoria grabs his hand.
"Stay with me. Please," she whispers. Nightmares of Cassiopeia's death haven't gone away, hearing her voice in the middle of the night.
"Okay."
He lays back down beside her, unaware of Narcissa and Daphne watching, both with very bright smiles on their faces.