The author of this story claims no rights to the characters used, nor the song and lyrics. All rights belong to their rightful owners.
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A/N: A runaway plot bunny inspired by Adele's Someone Like You and the lunar eclipse. Hope you enjoy.
Happy reading.
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Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead…
Adele – Someone Like You
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Her breath hitched.
There on the gleaming streets of La Roux, the upper-class version of Diagon Alley, stood Draco Malfoy.
He was still as devastatingly handsome as when she had last saw him a handful of years ago, proactively working to rebuild their nearly extinct and chaotic post-war world. What Lucius helped to destroy, Draco had helped to rebuild. Whether it was to find redemption for himself or for the actions of his forefathers, she didn't really know.
At the time she herself had slipped quietly away to Australia.
She could not have willed herself to stay when all she wanted to do was go, so go she had.
The war had left scars on them all. No one was left untouched to its effects.
All she had wanted at the time was to heal, to get herself together and to come to terms with everything that had happened.
Her friends had been understanding, the loss in their eyes mirroring her own.
Looking at him now, she didn't know whether she had healed or whether she had left herself open to more pain in the future. At night, laying in her bed alone, she let her mind wander as it often did on the brink of dreaming, and she often felt the sting of regret at leaving.
She had thought of him often, though she could not pick up a quill to write to finish a letter. There was still a stack of pages half-scrawled on in her flat in Sydney.
The Daily Prophet subscription she had kept never failed to update her on news of home, and news of him. His face had beckoned her home more than anything else, and in a fit of weakness, she had surrendered to the urge.
Silly bird, she thought quietly to herself, running her hand anxiously through her dark hair.
Was she so desperate to see him again that it had come to this?
There she sat in the small café, pretending to sip her tea as she continued her staring at the man who had once loved her who stood there across the street.
His presence attracted onlookers, and photographers stood at a distance capturing him as he wandered casually. In his much larger hand, he held that of a child's, probably no older than four, a spitting image of his father.
'Scorpius,' she concluded, her heart aching as she looked at the cherubic countenance. His round cheeks were red from all of the laughter she could not hear as he stared at a much larger copy of a golden snitch flying inside a shop window.
A voice whispered in her head, 'This life could have been yours.'
The gleaming band around the finger of the boy's father's hand reminded her it wasn't.
What had she hoped to gain by coming back here, to the street he practically owned and the world he helped to build?
He was happy now. He had moved on and built a life for himself. She could only hope that she would be able to do the same, given time.
'You're not ready to be here yet,' she thought, acknowledging it as fact deep within her heart.
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Refusing to look back out the window, she had quietly signalled for her server to bring the cheque over, settling the bill before leaving.
It was when she was stepping out of the café that she heard his voice.
"Do you think we should interrupt Mummy at work with some scones, Scorpius?" she heard him ask, the fondness of his tone hurting more than it should have.
Ducking her head and turning to walk away, she dreaded it as his voice called out in slight surprise, "Astoria?"
She stopped moving in the opposite direction, and plastered a small smile upon her face before turning to face him. "Draco… How have you been?"
"Much better than I had expected," he answered, a small smile on his face. "What about you?"
She opened her mouth, unsure of what to honestly say and poised to lie instead. Thankfully however, she was saved by having to answer when his son interrupted.
"Daddy, who's she?" The little boy asked, his large brown eyes inquisitive as he eyed her, from his seat upon his father's broad shoulders.
"An old friend of mine from Hogwarts," he told him, his gray eyes watching her. "Scorp, meet Astoria. Say hello."
"Hello! I'm Scorpius!" Looking at her rather seriously, he raised his hand, lifting three fingers, "I'm this many but it's almost my birthday so I'm going to be this many," he told her, lifting one more.
"That's wonderful," she responded smiling before turning to Draco again. "Your son is gorgeous."
"I look exactly like daddy," Scorpius announced proudly to her. "My mummy says that it means I'm extra handsome."
"You sound exactly like your daddy as well," Astoria teased, as Draco just smirked lightly, reaching a hand to ruffle his son's halo of hair.
"Scones now?" Scorpius asked. "Mummy wants a cupcake too."
"No, you would like the cupcake," Draco chuckled, before looking at her. "Would you like to join us?"
She hesitated, longing to say yes, but knowing she shouldn't. "Thank you, but I've really got to be off."
He tilted his head slightly before asking, "Are you going to be staying?"
"No, just came to reminisce," she admitted to him. "I'll be leaving within the week."
Nodding his head, he said, "It was good to see you again, Astoria."
She was a good two metres away before she turned and dashed back, reaching out to stop them. He held open the door for Scorpius, allowing him to step foot inside the shop and telling him to bother Uncle Blaise in his office while he waited for his father.
When Draco was facing her, she looked at him, bit her lip before realizing that she wouldn't be able to leave without saying all that she had wanted to say in those half-written letters back home.
"When I left, I didn't mean to hurt you… There wasn't anything you could have really done to stop me, and if I hurt you, I'm sorry," she told him softly. "Daphne's death… I never blamed you for it. But she was my sister, probably my best friend. Losing her was never your fault, but I lost a part of me when she passed. None of what happened, was ever your fault. And it may seem silly of me now to bring it up, but I wanted you to know."
His gray eyes were full of understanding, healed with love and time. "I stopped blaming myself for things that were out of my control a long time ago, but I appreciate hearing it come from you. I'm not angry with you about your leaving. I was never angry. I knew you needed time. We all did. I've moved on from those times, Astoria, and I'm more than happy with my life. I hope whatever it is you're still trying to find, you do, because you deserve it."
"Thank you," she whispered, hoping her heart could truly move on and mend now. "I wish you well. Good bye, Draco."
"Good bye, Astoria."
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When she returned home, less than a week later, she felt different.
Her now bare desk reflecting the moonlight, she lay in bed, letting her mind wander once again. The heaviness she had become accustomed to seemed to have faded, the deep-rooted regret morphing into a dull pang of heartbreak time would soon heal.
While she still loved him, she held onto the hope of moving on and finding the kind of happiness Draco had.
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On the other side of the globe, Draco Malfoy cradled his napping wife in his arms as they laid upon the chaise placed by a large window overlooking the grounds of Malfoy Manor. His cheek lay atop her fragrant her, and he breathed her in, content.
When he had told Hermione about his run-in with Astoria, he knew his wife would completely understand the feelings he tried to put into words but couldn't really.
He regretted nothing about his life, or what had lead him to Hermione, nor the pain he had to overcome to be here in this moment. He was where he was supposed to be, and could not ask for more happiness than what he was given with his family.