A/N: Hi! I'm gonna try not to make this too long and save most of what I have to say for the end, and you can skip these notes if you want. This is the first time I've written Drastoria, so I have no idea how good it is. But just enjoy and I'd be more than happy to take some criticism in reviews if there is something I can do better! (You don't have to review though. Do whatever you want, I don't control you.) Alright, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

Astoria Greengrass walked into the Great Hall and saw Draco Malfoy sitting alone, noticing that people were avoiding him. She assumed that his friends hadn't returned to finish their 7th year (and they kept their old views on blood supremacy so he had just stopped talking to them from what she had heard). Her sister Daphne had been an acquaintance of Draco's, but she had decided not to return and finish her 7th year. Astoria had never liked Draco much, though. They were both blood supremacists, but Astoria had no intentions of bullying anyone. She just wanted to do her schoolwork and talk to her small group of friends. However, she knew the war had changed Draco and her both. She no longer had any ill feelings towards people with different backgrounds than her, and she knew Draco regretted all of his actions and decisions he made in the war after seeing all the pain and death caused by him and the people he thought he admired. She knew that if he could, he would apologize to each and every person who he hurt.

So she sat across from him in the Great Hall in the seat that nobody else wanted and gave him a small smile. She had talked to Draco enough times that he probably wouldn't think it was too out of context.

"Hi, Draco."

"Hi, Astoria."

"Are you okay? Not that you have to open up to me," she said, feeling nervous to hear his response, and she noticed he seemed to be mentally debating whether or not he should actually open up to her.

"It's been hard. I deserve for my life to be hard." Draco stared at the table with a look of great pain in his eyes.

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. I ruined so many lives, Astoria." Even though it wasn't his intention, this made Astoria feel guilty in a way.

"But you're sorry? For... for everything?"

"Yes," he said as he looked up at her as if he wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"So am I. For my family's blood supremacy beliefs and everything. So I think we can make it up to people someday," she said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible.

"What my family did was unforgivable."

"I forgive you."

"...Thanks," he said confusedly, but Astoria just gave him a small smile.

"You can be forgiven by those with open hearts if you really are sorry, Draco."

"Why are you being so nice?" Draco suddenly asked, now with a look of caution spread upon his face.

"Because I understand a little fraction of what you feel and I think you deserve a friend. Nobody deserves to be alone."

After that, Astoria started to sit with Draco at every opportunity. It's not like she really had any competition for the spots near him, anyway. Sometimes they talked, most of the time they didn't. But they seemed to truly understand each other just from the silence they shared.

Besides, Astoria's friends didn't talk to her anymore. None of them believed in blood supremacy, and so the events of the war (along with her sitting near someone like Draco) turned them against her. She couldn't even think of what to say if she were to try and explain everything to them, so she just didn't.

However, as the end of the year dwindled by, Astoria realized she wouldn't be able to see Draco anymore. Even though they often didn't talk much, she knew she would miss him. So on the very last day of school, she spoke up.

"So what comes after this for us?"

"I don't know." Draco looked at the ground thoughtfully, and it seemed as if he had asked himself the same question a lot lately.

"I think I would like to keep in touch." She blushed, a little bit embarrassed to admit this. She just hoped he wanted to keep in touch too.

"I think I would like that too." She smiled a small smile of relief at this.

So they agreed to start owling each other after the school year ended. They sent each other one letter each day, and sometimes it didn't say much, but they never missed a day. Astoria saved every letter she got from Draco in a small box, folded neatly in fourths. She couldn't explain why she did this, but she always did.

However, as much as she liked owling him, she missed seeing his face, his occasional small smile, and his once in a blue moon laugh. She loved his laugh. So one day, she asked him if he wanted to meet at The Three Broomsticks for lunch on Friday. He agreed. She was happy to see his face and hear his voice again, and when they first found each other, she could have sworn she saw a quick smile.

Her mere presence made an often broken, melancholy Draco Malfoy smile.

And then it hit her. She was starting to like Draco. However, she was sure it was just a silly little crush. Draco's parents didn't even like her. They blamed her for making Draco lose his views on blood supremacy and called her disappointing.

But the next Friday, they met again. And the next. And the next. For a few weeks, they confirmed their plans, but after a while, it just became routine and they didn't even ask. They just showed up.

Astoria got a job at a small potions shop in October where she didn't make much money, but she didn't care since she already had money. Her family was rich. She mostly just got the job so she had something to do, and she liked working at the little potions shop. Despite this, she never forgot to send Draco an owl and she never missed their lunch together (she worked the 3-8 shift on Fridays per her request).

Slowly, Draco seemed to be becoming happier. He smiled every time they met up and his laugh was less elusive than it used to be. This made Astoria feel happy and warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Then, one day on their Friday meet-up, Draco said something to her that almost made her choke on her butterbeer.

"Hey Astoria, I have never liked someone like I like you."

This caused intense coughing on Astoria's part.

"Oh, I, uh, yeah, I feel the same way… I think, I mean... what do you mean by that?" She was pretty sure she knew what he had meant, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"I think I've fallen for you, Astoria."

Very very intense coughing from Astoria could be heard, and a few people turned just to make sure she wasn't choking.

"Are you... do you... are you sure you really mean that?"

"Yeah."

"I... I have fallen for you too Draco." A few minutes of silence followed.

"So what does this make us?" Astoria asked, looking at Draco hopefully.

"Whatever you want it to be."

"I think I would like it if you were my boyfriend." Just saying the words put a smile on her lips. "Can I call you that?"

"Sure, if I can call you Tori." And then came that laugh that Astoria treasured so much

"Okay, Draco. You can be my boyfriend and I can be your Tori."

"If you want, you can come over to my flat tomorrow." Draco offered with traces of hopefulness in his voice.

"Sure, I have Saturdays off. When do you want me to come over?"

"Any time after 8:00 tomorrow morning and I'll be up and at home. You're my girlfriend now, you can drop by whenever. In fact, here." Draco plopped a piece of paper with an address and a set of keys from his pocket onto the table.

"Keys? Can't I just use magic to come in?" Astoria asked with a smirk.

"Now you don't feel like you're invading because I wouldn't have given you the keys if I didn't want you to come in." He smiled, and she smiled too at how cute his answer was.

"Aaaaaand that's why I like you." She laughed a little bit and he did too.

As they finished their food, Astoria stood up and brushed herself off. She looked at Draco who was also getting ready to leave. She wasn't sure how she should say goodbye now that they were dating, but before she could decide between waving or hugging him, he had already enclosed his arms around her, so she returned the hug.

She then moved just enough so she was looking into his eyes and he was looking into hers. Like magnets, their faces started to move closer together, and Astoria stood on the tips of her toes, being much shorter than him. Their lips touched, and it was like fire. It felt so good and so right and she wanted more the longer it went on. Finally, they ran out of breath, and her toes started to hurt, so she pulled away, his arms still around her.

"Bye, Tori. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Draco."

The next day, Astoria showed up at Draco's flat at 12:00. She had a sweater, leggings, and sheepskin boots on since it was December, and her long, wavy brown hair was tied in a high ponytail with a couple of strands left out to frame her light beige face. She went to the address on the paper Draco gave her and knocked on the door, not wanting to just walk in. A few seconds later, the door opened and Draco smiled at her. He was wearing a green polo shirt and black trousers.

"I said you could just come in," he said, stepping aside so she could come inside. The flat was neat and modern looking, which she liked. He sat down on the couch, and she sat down next to him, prompting him to put his arm around her.

"I thought that seemed invasive," she said, snuggling into Draco a little bit. Astoria felt safe and warm when she was in his arms. She wished they could have started dating much earlier on, but she supposed neither of them wanted their friendship to get ruined. After all, they only really had each other.

"I already told you that you are always allowed here. I meant every word of that, Astoria. I wouldn't just tell that to anyone," he said. "You are really, really, really welcome to come here and it's not invasive for you to come in at any time. What, you think I would have given Parkinson that key?" Astoria laughed. Pansy Parkinson was the girl that Draco had dated on and off in their sixth year. She wouldn't leave him alone, she was always petting his hair or trying to kiss him, and she needed to know where he was at all times.

Needless to say, they didn't last. The only reason they kept getting back together was that she was even more of a nightmare when she was angry at him and she wouldn't leave him alone.

"Nobody with a will to live would live in a flat without magical protection charms to block all unlocking spells and apparition while dating Pansy," she responded, and he chuckled.

They hung out all day, mostly cuddling and talking with cups of hot cocoa. Astoria loved cuddling and Draco seemed to notice this. Finally, when it was 10:00 and they were sitting on the couch and talking about their memories of Hogwarts, Astoria yawned and Draco noticed how tired she was.

"Do you have to go?" he asked, slowly letting go of her.

"I think so. With work tomorrow, I have to get some sleep," Astoria said, picking up her handbag and fixing her ponytail. She closed her eyes and leaned in towards Draco for a goodnight kiss but after a few seconds, she realized she wasn't getting one.

"You could crash here," he said shyly, smiling and looking at the ground.

"Crash here? Oh, I don't think so… I mean, I have work and I didn't bring any of my stuff." She felt bad for saying no, but she didn't think it would be very responsible of her even if it was what she really wanted to do.

"Oh, come on. You don't need anything. You can borrow my clothes to sleep in and I can wake you up for work. When do you have to be there by?" he asked with a smirk. She knew he wasn't gonna let her leave so she sat back down with a sigh. She supposed it would be nice to not spend another night alone in her apartment.

"10:00 AM," she said with a sigh, but Draco grinned, which made her smile too. "I'll need to be home by 9:00 tomorrow morning if I have any hopes of getting there on time."

"Easy enough. I can make that happen," Draco said. "Now come on, you're tired."

"Wait! I'm not allowed to go to my house to get my stuff?" she whined, knowing she could very well go and get her stuff anyway. And yet here she was, listening to what he told her to do.

"You need sleep, Tori. I'll let you borrow something of mine," he said, walking into his bedroom. She followed him and put her hands on her hips.

"And I suppose you have makeup remover wipes?" she pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Check the cabinet above the sink." Astoria rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom. She opened the cabinet and saw there was a pack of unopened makeup wipes. She wondered why he had them there, and she walked back into his room with the pack in one hand.

"Why do you have makeup wipes? And they're unopened as well." Draco had been sitting on his bed and he just looked up at her with pursed lips. She then had a moment of realization. "Wait. Were you planning to ask me to stay the whole time?" He didn't agree or disagree, he just continued to stare at her with the same facial expression. She put her hands on her hips and he sighed.

"I was too nervous to ask you earlier. Sorry," he said with a sheepish smile. She just groaned and sat next to him on his bed.

"You're impossible."

"I know."

She plopped the makeup wipes onto her lap. "At least you're thoughtful."

"I know." Silence followed. "Are you mad at me?"

"You're annoying, but no."

"Really?" he seemed surprised as if he was expecting a lecture or a slap across the face.

"Getting mad doesn't solve much, it just makes you mad. And besides, you're cute. It's hard to be mad at you," said Astoria. She smiled and leaned on him.

"You can borrow this," he said, tossing a t-shirt at her. She unfolded it and it made her realize how much taller than her he really was.

"You could fit three of me in this," Astoria said.

"Are you calling me fat?" Draco asked teasingly, pretending to be hurt and putting a hand over his heart.

"No, you're just really tall," she replied with a sigh. "Whatever. I'm gonna go change." She went to the bathroom, took her makeup off, and changed into the t-shirt which entirely covered her thighs. She took out her ponytail and combed through her hair with her fingers.

She then returned to Draco's room and sat back down next to him with a sigh. His t-shirt covered her entire thighs.

"Why do you wear makeup? I like the way you look without it." Astoria turned to Draco and smiled.

"There's no need to say that. I know I look better with makeup," she said, tucking her extremely long hair behind her ear.

"No, I'm serious. Your skin is, like, perfect," he said, and she noticed he seemed really genuine.

"Well, thank you. You aren't quite on my level of beauty, but I guess you aren't ugly," Astoria said teasingly. She then yawned again.

"You need sleep. You can stay in my room, and I can go on the couch," he said. He started to leave the room until Astoria got up and grabbed his arm.

"Wait. I think I would be okay with it if you stayed in here. If you want to," she said, and she was now blushing furiously and looking at the ground. "As long as you don't get any ideas." She bit her lip and glanced up to see that Draco was smiling.

"Nothing but sleep. Are you sure it's okay with you?" He looked at her cautiously, but Astoria nodded.

"But only if I get a goodnight kiss," she said with a giggle, and she wrapped her arms around him. She leaned in towards his face and their lips touched. The kiss was gentle and sweet and she liked it. Once they pulled away, they went to crawl in the covers of the bed. She cuddled up to Draco under the covers, and he seemed to like it, as he wrapped his arms around her.

Astoria quickly fell asleep afterward, still snuggled up to her boyfriend in his arms.

—

The first thing Astoria noticed when she woke us was that she could no longer smell Draco's cologne and she was no longer in his arms.

She got up and readjusted the t-shirt she was wearing. She checked the clock and it was 9:57. She started her shift at ten.

Draco.

She stormed into the kitchen the smell of pancakes and bacon immediately filled her nose. She saw Draco sitting at the dining table and she wondered whether or not she should yell at him. She settled for calm passive aggressiveness.

"Draco, I am gonna be late for work. You said you would wake me up," she said, crossing her arms. He looked up at her with a bashful grin.

"You won't be late, I promise," he said. She looked at the time. 10:01.

"I already am," she said with a groan.

"I owled in sick for you already," he said quietly, and Astoria decided this was the part where she starts yelling.

"You did what!? And why the hell did you do that?" she asked loudly.

"Because you haven't taken a single day off of work yet and you deserve it," Draco responded calmly. "Want some bacon?"

"Yes, I want some bacon! And I don't want to take a day off. What did Miss Nadia say when a 19-year-old boy owled in sick for me? She knows my handwriting and doesn't know I have a boyfriend," Astoria said annoyedly, sitting down in a chair while Draco went to put some bacon and pancakes on a plate for her. She was too pissed off to be a polite house guest.

"I told her that I'm your boyfriend. She understood." He placed a plate of food in front of her and she took a large bite out of a piece of bacon.

"Of course she did. Classic Miss Nadia. Probably thought I got drunk or was up all night having sex or something because of you," Astoria said, scoffing and taking another bite of bacon.

"So now you're mad at me?"

"Pretty much."

"You were so peaceful and I assumed you needed the sleep," said Draco, pouring some orange juice in Astoria's glass. She sighed, knowing he was kind of right. She usually didn't get 8 hours of sleep but something about being there with him helped her sleep better.

"Well I am still mad," she argued, not having a better argument because what he did for her was actually very thoughtful. "And you should have told me prior to doing it."

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said, and Astoria had to try very hard not to smile at this. She failed and ended up smiling anyway.

"Yeah, well, I'm still showing up to work," said Astoria, grabbing her purse and her clothes. "I'll just apparate home and be honest with Miss Nadia when I get there. See you later, Draco." Before he could argue, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Bye then, Tori." He had a sad smile and she was starting to feel guilty.

"I'll… I'll come here after work, okay?" She gave him another hug and then apparated into her apartment.

When she arrived, she showered and changed into her Potion Perfection polo shirt, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black heels. She tied her hair into a high ponytail and she put on some light makeup.

Astoria apparated to Potion Perfection and saw the smirking face of Miss Nadia, her boss. She already knew what was coming as soon as she shut the door behind her and the smirk on the face of the short (but still taller than Astoria), round woman with light brown skin and wiry black hair that was tied back in a bun who looked to be in her early 30s.

"You have a new boyfriend?" she said, putting down the towel she was wiping the counter with. "Draco, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, I have a boyfriend. We started dating on Friday but I have known Draco for a while. He owled in sick for me instead of waking me up on time for work."

"Wait. Isn't he that boy you are practically obsessed with, owling him every day and taking a different shift at work on Fridays just to see him?" Astoria snorted. She was not obsessed with Draco.

"I am not obsessed with him," she argued.

"Whatever. Lucius Malfoy's son, right? Bad boy type, then. Cute. You needed a boyfriend. You're too pretty to not have one," said Miss Nadia with a chuckle. Astoria rolled her eyes.

"First of all, Draco is not anything like his father anymore. If he was, I wouldn't be interested in him. And second of all, I'm only 18. I don't have to be single or dating anybody. I can live however I want." She crossed her arms stubbornly, but Miss Nadia just laughed.

"Oh, you keep me young, Astoria. So tell me about Draco," she said, and Astoria groaned. She wanted nothing less than to keep talking about Draco, as much as she liked Miss Nadia. However, she knew that she would have to talk about him sooner or later since she spent hours in the little shop 6 days a week.

"Well, he's 19, he's blonde with light skin and a good amount of muscle, he's cute, and he's my boyfriend. And he is also very annoying sometimes but he is thoughtful and smart and funny and he cares about me very much."

"Sounds like quite a guy," Miss Nadia said as she stacked jars on an empty shelf. This made Astoria smile. He was quite a guy, despite how she was supposed to be mad at him at that point in time.

"Yeah, he is." She started putting thin vials of potions into a potion holder that was on display on a front table, humming to herself under her breath.

"I wish I had found love when I was as young and pretty as you," said Miss Nadia dreamily.

"Love? Oh, I wouldn't go that far yet. We've only been dating for a couple of days. I don't want to move too fast." Astoria almost felt uncomfortable at the mention of the word "love." It's not that she wanted to say that she didn't love Draco, but at the same token, she didn't want to say she did. She just wanted to wait until it felt right. "And besides, you're not that old. You're only 31."

"Oh, you flatter me. But all I'm saying is not to live your life based on what makes others happy. If something feels right to you, do it," said Miss Nadia. She gave Astoria a warm smile.

The two of them talked and worked until 4:00. Astoria then packed her bag and went back home to her apartment. She always walked home because she only lived a block away and she liked walking.

So she walked back into her apartment and sat down on her couch. It was now 4:10 and she remembered she was supposed to get to Draco's since she was done with work, so she went into her bedroom and changed from her work clothes into a dark green oversized sweater and black leggings. She also took off her heels and exchanged them for her boots and plain black socks. She was only a little bit self-conscious about her height around Draco since he already knew about how short she was and how she wore high heels instead of her Hogwarts uniform shoes because of it.

She untied her long, wavy hair from its ponytail and brushed it out so it was neat and smooth. She then pulled it all over her one shoulder and put pajamas, her work uniform, an extra outfit, and her makeup bag into her purse (which she had to enlarge on the inside) before apparating to Draco's flat building.

Astoria walked inside and to the door, debating whether to knock or come in.

She decided to knock.

The door was opened by a smiling Draco, who immediately pulled Astoria into a sweet little kiss.

"Hey," she said with a giggle as she walked inside and sat down on the couch, taking off her boots.

"Hey. How was work?" he replied, sitting down right next to her. She wrapped her arms around him and cuddled into him, which immediately warmed her up on the inside.

"Fine. I would have rather been here with you," she said, and Draco gave a small chuckle.

"You could've just gone along with the sick thing, but you're too stubborn for that," he responded, and she just sighed.

"I don't like lying to Miss Nadia, and I don't like missing work if I don't have to," Astoria replied, sounding slightly annoyed but cuddling up to Draco even more nonetheless. They couldn't sit any closer to each other and she was practically on Draco's lap at this point.

"Fine. Are you staying here tonight?"

"If you let me set an alarm so you can't owl in sick for me."

"I've already made that mistake, it seemingly doesn't work with you. So I will get you to work on time tomorrow."

"Do you promise?" Astoria lifted her head and looked into his eyes so that he would feel too guilty to lie to her.

"I promise," he replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her gently on his lap, which made her blush and giggle.

"Good," she said, kissing his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder and relaxing. For the first time in a while since the Second Wizarding War, Astoria felt completely happy and relaxed.

A/N: Okay so I know I've talked a lot already but I just wanted to say that I don't know if there will be a Chapter 2 or not. Depends on if anyone likes this chapter and if I get time to write this and my other story, with high school being bleh and all. But I kinda liked how this turned out, so I decided to upload it haha! Anyway sorry for talking so much and have an awesome day!