Full summary:

Draco Malfoy's parents are divorced. His father is dating the abandoned Mrs. Greengrass, and their soon-to-be engagement means adopting two new stepsisters, the youngest of which makes calling her family very difficult as he begins to desire her in ways no brother should. Their options are limited: Either they adhere to the norms their new kinship demands of them or they give in to their passions, neglecting all filial responsibilities.

~0~

When Draco Malfoy's father and mother divorced in the spring after the war, he could not, for the life of him, fathom why. Sure, Lucius placed his wife and son at terrible risk with his involvement in the now fallen Dark Lord's regime. And yes, Narcissa had spent years in submission, ever faithful and devoted to her husband, no matter the implications, but why, after enduring so much together, did they feel the need to end their marriage? This question plagued the mind of their only son many nights after the war. Without them, he'd felt more excluded from the world than he ever thought possible, more aloof, in fact, than the time he accepted the dark mark and became another of Voldemort's minions.

Rolling onto his back, restless like all the other nights, Draco stared ahead, enchanted stars reminding him of the Great Hall's own twinkling ceiling, glittering madly above him. When he was younger, those stars were his only solace, aiding him in finding sleep. The ceiling, coupled with soothing strokes of his hair by his mum, usually did the trick; sleep would overcome him, and his thoughts would plague him no longer. Unfortunately, his mother fled England the day after the divorce, leaving Draco to live with his father. She'd written to him at least five times a month with news of her travels, the rekindled friendship between she and her sister Andromeda, among other things.

Draco, now 19, began deciphering the constellations above, finding in them the dragon-shaped figure that inspired his own name. He would count as many stars as he could in order to fall asleep. While it often took hours to work, Draco, eyes stinging and head hammering from counting the thousands of twinkling stars, would eventually fall asleep. Tonight, he would play the counting game again. He'd begun counting, feeling, gladly, his eyes begin to close. Five-hundred-thirty-seven was the last number he'd said aloud when his door creaked open, and with it came a great pool of light.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't—would you mind pointing me to the bathroom?" asked a girlish voice as Draco blinked furiously to regain his senses.

"Which one?" he croaked, although he was surprised he didn't ask who she was and what she was doing in his bedroom let alone his home.

"I- I dunno'. Whichever, I suppose? I've been searching for the past ten minutes. This is quite a large home."

"I know. You can use mine. In there." He pointed ahead to his private bathroom.

"You don't mind?" she asked timidly, half in the room already.

"I don't care, just close the door," he asked, shielding his eyes.

"Of course, I'm so sorry," she said, entering the room and shutting the door behind her. She gasped in awe at the ceiling of stars.

"These are just like—

"Hogwarts?" he finished for her, rubbing his eyes to get a better look at whoever she was.

"Yes," she breathed.

"Are you in Hogwarts now?" he asked. He still couldn't make out her face.

"Yes. It's my last year. Is that," here she pointed up, "Draco? The constellation?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Wait, you're Draco. Lucius's son. Well, that makes sense. I didn't think you'd be here. He didn't mention that you'd be here."

"Who are you?" he asked. What would a schoolgirl be doing at his home in the middle of the night, talking about his father as if she knew him?

"I'm Astoria. Greengrass," she added quickly. "You know my sister, I believe. She was in Slytherin in your year. Daphne?"

"Yeah, I knew her. So you're Astoria…"

She laughed nervously. "I guess I am. Could you just…excuse me a moment? I drank too much downstairs. May I?" she pointed to the bathroom.

"Of course," said Draco, sitting up now. He fumbled in the dark for his wand and found it on his bedside table. From his place on the bed, he turned on the lamp by his desk, reducing its brilliance a notch as his eyes adjusted gradually.

"Why are you here?" he asked her when she'd reappeared. She stood a bit in the shadows of the room, but he could at least make out that she had a svelte figure, and long, shiny brown hair.

"Your dad invited us."

"'Us'? Who is 'us'? What do you mean?"

"We've all just met today honestly. Well, Daph and I. Mum's already known him. He's all she speaks of sometimes; it's quite embarrassing."

"Your mum is downstairs? With my dad? And your sister?"

"Yes?"

"Why?"

"I—well, they're dating obviously." She said this with a note of perplexity in her voice, as if Draco were the one saying things that made no sense and not she.

He was quiet a long while as the news sunk in. His father was dating Mrs. Greengrass? Wasn't she married? He asked Astoria this, and she began to explain, with the audacity to sit at the foot of his bed, about how her coward of a father fled before the war to avoid his death eater responsibilities. He didn't even have the decency to relocate his family as well. Instead, he disappeared, leaving behind the three most important women in his life to fend for themselves. They hadn't seen him since.

"I'm sorry, you really didn't know this already? He didn't tell you?" she asked, looking at him as though he were something pitiful.

She had wide blue eyes, thick and long lashes that framed them, a small, rounded nose, very pretty heart-shaped lips, and slightly elfin pointed ears that stuck out a bit. She was constantly pushing her hair behind those strange ears or licking her lips. He wondered if she were as uncomfortable as he was at the moment.

"No," Draco answered wryly. "He never told me." He climbed out of bed and pulled on a shirt. He noticed she was staring at him. He found a jumper on the chair of his desk and pulled that on as well. Then he slipped on some shoes, grabbed his wand and made for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" she called after him, following him downstairs, through the kitchen, and outside into a vegetable patch. He'd begun walking briskly away from the house, and she struggled to keep up, nearly tripping over a fantastically white peacock that snapped its beak at her ankle.

"Away," he said. "It was nice meeting you and everything, Astoria, but I don't plan on sticking around to watch whatever is happening between your mum and my dad to actually happen. You can tell them I disappeared or whatever, I don't care."

"Wait!" she called out desperately. He stopped walking and turned around.

"I'm sorry," she said, shrugging as if to say she didn't know what to do.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong." He walked a bit more, and Astoria who'd stopped chasing after him, simply watched as he disapparated from the spot.

They wouldn't see each other for another year.

~0~

I can't believe I just did this. I started another Drastoria without finishing the first one, but no worries! I will work on both, I promise. The Games We Play will not be neglected! The semester's almost over, so I'm busy, busy, busy, but this came to me this morning, and I couldn't not write it!

I hope you're all as excited as I am for the next chapters, and that this short beginning was enough to keep you interested until the next chapter.

Thanks for reading, and please review!

=]