She inched forward, the wind brutally hitting against her as she hung onto the window ledge, awaiting the perfect opportunity. She'd describe the mansion as easy pickings, except it wasn't. It may have been vacated but powerful charms and curses lay upon Malfoy Manor, much of the magic was centuries old and far above anything she'd previously had to deal with. No matter though, Astoria relished a challenge.
She daren't use magic. Merlin knew what kind of ward or curse could be set off by a simple Alohomora. It didn't phase her, she had a plan, one of the muggle variety. The Malfoys were far to egotistic to even consider that they could be burgled through the use of muggle means, which was a rather fine piece of luck for Astoria. She reached into her knapsack, seizing the crowbar which she kept in there for times such as these, placing it under the frame of the window she put her weight behind it. Forcing the window up from the ledge by a few centimetres. It wasn't much, but there was plenty of room for her to slip her fingers through the gap and use her hand to force the window up the rest of the way.
As the window lifted up fully Astoria swung her lithe body through the opening, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. The house had been seized by the Ministry of Magic a few months ago, meaning that the original occupants shouldn't be a problem. However Astoria was aware that just because the owners had cleared out didn't mean there mightn't be a few strays lurking. Perhaps the odd house elf hanging around, or even creatures worse. She shuddered at the thought of coming across a stray ghoul and forced herself to put the mental picture out of her mind.
Nevertheless she continued onwards making her way out of the drawing room which she'd first entered into and towards the staircase which would take her upstairs towards the bedrooms. Astoria had been to Malfoy Manor a few times before. She could of course remember the ridiculous peacock that Lucius insisted on keeping, but more importantly she remembered the layout of the house. She hoped to find some jewels or perhaps ancient artefacts which she could later sell on. Borgin and Burkes were always happy to buy the darker offerings and jewels could be sold almost anywhere, even the muggle world. She raided a few bedrooms, collecting a few items of jewellery as well as an ornate compact mirror and a pocket watch that didn't seem to work quite right. She was rather impressed with her hall of goods, humming merrily to herself as she put another pearl necklace into her knapsack, no doubt that the jewels belonged to one of the previous Mrs Malfoys who had occupied this manor.
It was only as she threw her knapsack over her shoulder and began to make her way down the grand marble staircase into the momentous main hallway that she began to suspect. It had almost been to easy, the jewels laid out on the side for anyone to grab, the compact glittering in the light of the moon by a magnificent window. Astoria paused in her movements, examining her surroundings, her keen eyes taking in all around her. Her fingers reached into her familiar black knapsack and found the well known wood of her wand, Pine, eleven inches with Unicorn Hair. She swiftly yanked the wand out of the knapsack, twirling it around between her fingers before suddenly pausing.
"I know you're here." She stated, her wand was held aloft yet her body leaned forward somewhat, as if waiting to strike or be striked. She waited for a moment, nothing happened yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't alone, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and the fingertips that were tightly grasping her wand began to feel numb
"Reveal yourself." She shouted into the darkness, her eyes rapidly scanning around the gigantic entrance hall. Her mind was filling up with fear as her imagination ran wild with various possibilities, suddenly she heard the creek of a floorboard and span round coming face to face with a mysterious man.
"Who are you?" She questioned, the darkness preventing her from seeing the face of her companion.
"I could ask you the same question. I'm however more interested in why you're here?" He replied, his voice floating across the space between them like a rolling wave. Astoria tilted her head to the side, trying to examine this stranger through the veil of darkness. He seemed familiar, yet their was something peculiar about his presence, he stood tall with no shame of his presence in this abandoned house.
"Just collecting a few bits and bobs." She smirked slightly, knowing that the stranger would be unable to see her properly in the darkness.
"Stealing you mean?" He responded, his tone light.
"I prefer to use the term misappropriation but call it what you will." She teased, beginning to cautiously stroll towards her companion, his face still obscured by the darkness and hers hidden behind the black mask she always chose to wear for such occasions. Merlin was she thankful she'd chosen to wear it this night. He was silent for a moment before finally speaking up.
"Want me to show you where the good stuff is?" The mysterious man spoke softly, his smile evident in his tone. Just as she was beginning to get close enough to make out a few of his features he turned and began to swiftly walk back up the stairs. Astoria immediately followed, her curiosity now fully awakened.
His stride was far larger than her own and she found herself having to almost jog in order to keep up. She didn't question where he was taking her, she no longer cared, a game such as this was far too much fun to give up on due to the slight possibility of a larger lurking danger. She followed him up another set of stairs and along a corridor until eventually he led her into a large dressing room, a faint beam of moonlight filled the room and shined brightly on the many wizarding portraits that hung on the walls, their inhabitants oblivious due to their peaceful slumber. She didn't doubt that the paintings themselves were worth a pretty penny but she doubted that it was those that her mystery man had brought her to examine.
"A bit of advice, the bookcase to your right, hardly a traditional bookcase." His voice echoed around the large chamber.
Astoria strolled towards the bookcase, she was unsurprised to find a lack of dust on the offending furniture and began to trace the edges of a number of books, examining their authors and titles, looking for any visible clues. It was only as she examining the third shelf from the bottom that she caught sight a book, she laughed. It appeared the Malfoy family knew more about muggles than they let on. Her hand closed around the spine of The Brothers Grimm's Book of Fairytales, pulling it out from it's enclosure between Potions Moste Potent and Dark Curses of the Dreadernaughts. She kneeled, placing the book between her leg and allowing it to fall open. She let out a gasp at what she saw. The jewels were unlike any she had ever seen, their beauty unmatchable, of course it was not uncommon for powerful pureblood families to possess magical stones but they were always hidden away and rarely seen by the likes of Astoria Greengrass. Her finger trailed the curve of an emerald, the moon beams catching it and the green light reflecting around the room. How very Slytherin Astoria thought.
"They're beautiful" She admitted, her eyes wandering upwards to the man who stood behind her, she no longer needed to see his face to guess at his identity. Only a member of the house would know the location of such highly priced jewels and unless Lucius Malfoy had escaped Askaban, something which was entirely unlikely, then Astoria knew precisely who her mysterious man was. The only thing she couldn't understand was why he'd led her to the jewels.
"Why did you lead me to them, they must be worth more than this mansion. You could start a new life with these." Astoria inquired, her eyes still not fully able to make out his features, not that it mattered. It was unfathomable, to give away so much to someone who was practically a stranger. Worse still to give so much to a person who had previously been willing to rob you blind, uncaring for your own misfortunes, only caring her own.
"That's why I want you to take them, you see I don't want a new life Greengrass." Their eyes met in the darkness, a dull grey colliding with her own vibrant sea of blue. She couldn't fail to admit that his words held a kind of power, she almost failed to recognise the use of her surname.
"When did you realise?" She asked, her brow lifting in curiosity.
"You still wear that same damn overwhelming peach scented perfume, who could forget that?" He snorted, lifting his chin slightly, the same haughty demeanour he showcased in school becoming more and more apparent.
"It's not perfume, it's shampoo." She grumbled, twirling a lock of curly brown hair around her finger before letting it fall loosely back to the side of her face.
They stood in silence, Astoria examining a small patch of ripped carpet towards her left. Astoria wasn't aware of how much time had passed and she had no desire to be the one who broke the silence. Eventually her eyes rose, instantly connecting with his. She sucked in a deep breath, somehow he'd gotten closer during their silence. There couldn't have been more than a foot between them when he next spoke.
"Since you've stolen so much from me, I'm assuming you won't mind if I proceed in a little misappropriation myself?" His voice was husky.
Astoria made the mistake of briefly looking towards his lips and before she could protest those very lips had caught her own in a long, searing kiss. She arched towards him, pressing her soft lithe body against his. One of his hands wrapped around her waist, the other entangling itself within her hair. She gasped as his tongue briefly brushed her lower lip and then suddenly it was over. He pulled away from her almost as quickly as he had come towards her. It was done, he'd stolen what he wanted, he'd taken her kiss.
Astoria stood there as he turned and glided out of the room, not looking back even once to see the slip of a girl he'd left behind. Her eyes were still wide and her breathing slightly erratic but that didn't stop her whispering a hushed goodbye to her man of mystery.
"Goodbye Draco." She murmured, bringing her fingertips up to her lips, touching their softness and allowing a breath she hadn't realised she was holding escape.
To Possibly Be Continued…
I may decide to add another chapter at a later date or do another one-shot which ties in to the story, however as this feels like a natural end to this section I'm going to list it as complete. However, watch this space :)