"How are you this nervous?" Theodore Nott rolled his eyes. "You were the first one of us to get a girlfriend!"
"It's a good thing Pansy didn't stick around to see you turn into a nervous wreck." Blaise Zabini remarked.
"Shutupshutupshutupshutup…" Draco Malfoy chanted as he paced around his personal study in Malfoy Manor. "You lot aren't helping at all!"
"We're trying, but you're not listening." Theo snorted.
"Listen to your own advice, mate." Blaise advised. "If she says yes, then good for you! If she stomps on your heart, then she isn't the one for you."
"I said that?" Draco demanded. "When?"
"Fifth year. When Blaise was thinking about asking out Su Li." Theo replied.
"That's different though!" Draco moaned. "Fifth year, I wasn't- I didn't-" His voice trailed off, and he unconsciously clutched at his left arm, leaning against the large bay window.
Blaise and Theo exchanged a look, knowing full well what their friend was thinking about. The symbol burned onto the inside of Draco's forearm was like a stain upon the young man's soul. No matter how much he said he'd turned against the Dark Lord, there would always be those who would judge him for taking the mark. In the eyes of many, he would always be a Death Eater.
Blaise cleared his throat and Theo lazily flicked his wand, hitting Draco squarely in the seat of the pants with a Stinging Hex.
"Ow! What was that-"
"Snap out of it, Draco." Theo gave his best impression of Draco's lazy drawl. "You heard Blaise. If she can't see past the Dark Mark, she wasn't worth it anyway. Merlin knows it's been four years, and you've done more than anyone else to restore your honor."
Draco sighed in frustration. He appreciated his friends' efforts to bolster his confidence; they were certainly more helpful than Crabbe or Goyle had ever been in that department. Befriending Theo and Blaise only after leaving Hogwarts was another thing he'd regret, aside from joining Voldemort's forces of course. Even so, the damned pixies in his gut would not stop flitting around.
Draco rested his forehead against the glass, staring out into the night sky. Off to the left, he could see the lights from the ballroom shining into the dark gardens. He and his friends had snuck away from his parents' gala half an hour earlier, and were likely to be missed soon.
"Um, excuse me?" A new voice shook Draco out of his reverie, and he turned around to see a girl's face poke through the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
"No, no, we were just leaving, weren't we, Theo?" Blaise jumped up and began walking out of Draco's study, Theo close behind him. As the dark skinned boy passed through the pretty girl standing awkwardly in the doorway, he winked at Draco.
Draco surreptitiously wiped sweaty palms on velvet dress robes, and walked over to the girl. Or at least, he attempted to. Halfway across the room, his shoe caught on the carpet and Draco fell flat on his face in front of the gorgeous young woman.
The Malfoy heir quickly scrambled to his feet, face burning. He was sure he looked like the color of a Weasley's hair. "I'm so sorry." He mumbled awkwardly, then berated himself mentally. Why was he apologizing?
"Oh, it's ok." The girl squeaked, then blushed, funnily enough. "I trip over my own feet all the time."
Draco recognized an olive branch when he saw one, and he smoothly answered. "I don't believe I introduced myself?" He kissed the girl's hand as she offered it to him. "Draco Malfoy."
"Astoria Greengrass." The girl's face was still flushed, and she let out a coquettish giggle. "But you already knew that."
Indeed, Draco did. Though the two had not been formally introduced to each other in the pureblood fashion, he was acquainted with her older sister, who had been in the same year as him at Hogwarts. Then there was the small matter of the fact that she had haunted his dreams for quite a while now.
"Are you alright, Mr. Malfoy?" Astoria's brow knit together in a way that made Draco's already queasy stomach flip flop. "Your forehead has looks rather red. Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
"Oh, no- I- uh- I was just leaning against the window." Draco stammered lamely. Merlin, why was his brain not cooperating?! "I-It's nothing to worry about, Ms. Greengrass."
"Are you sure?" Astoria raised a single, perfect eyebrow. "I'm studying to be a Healer, and you might have a concussion."
Draco protested weakly as Astoria marched him over to a nearby chair and pushed him into it. She quickly conjured up a damp washcloth and dabbed gently at his sore forehead. Draco was reminded of the time he'd come down sick with a case of dragon pox when he was six, and his mother had personally looked after him rather than having Dobby do it.
"Thank you." Draco said. He wasn't quite sure anything was wrong with his head, but he appreciated the attention nonetheless. "How does it look?" He decided to crack a little joke.
"Mmm… It might scar." Astoria had a mirthful glint in her eyes.
"Is it bad?" Draco knew there would be no scar, but he was having too much fun.
"Well, it's not as exciting a shape as Harry Potter's, but it looks very impressive nonetheless."
Once upon a time, the mere mention of the name "Harry Potter" would have had Draco ranting about his rival. However, Draco was an older and wiser man. "I never much liked lightning anyways."
Astoria laughed, the sound of her voice like a pure bell. It was a very nice sound, Draco thought. He stood, and held out his arm. "My parents will be expecting me at the gala soon. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me downstairs?"
"If only to make sure you don't hurt yourself." Astoria smiled, looping her arm through his.
Fifteen Years Later
"Be safe, and don't get into too much trouble." Astoria sternly warned her son.
"I won't." Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy grinned. "Get caught."
"Cheeky brat." Astoria kissed Scorpius's forehead, and the young boy squirmed, conscious of the crowd around them. "I'm going to miss you so much, my sweet boy-"
"Mum!"
Draco smiled, remembering how twenty something years prior, he'd felt embarrassed by his mother's affection as well. A flash of red caught his eye and he saw a familiar face. He nodded to Potter, Weasley, and Granger, then turned back to his own family.
"Dad?" Scorpius asked, eyes wide. "Is it true that all Malfoys have been in Slytherin?"
Memories of a grimy old hat slipping over his eyes came rushing back, and Draco ruefully recalled how quickly he'd been Sorted into the House of his forefathers. "Yes, but it doesn't really matter where you end up."
"What if I was in Ravenclaw?" Scorpius took a deep breath. "Or Gryffindor?"
Draco knelt so that he was at eye level with his son. "Scorpius, even if you were a Hufflepuff, you would still be my son. Your mother and I would be proud of you no matter what House you were Sorted into."
Scorpius let out a relieved sigh just as the whistle blew. "Hurry, or you'll miss the train." Draco stood and guided his son to the nearest carriage.
Draco and Astoria stood on Platform 9 3/4 with all the other parents, waving goodbye to their child long after the Hogwarts Express had pulled out of the station. Gradually, the other families filtered away, until only the Malfoys and a handful of others remained.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Astoria asked Draco worriedly.
"If he's anything like you," Draco kissed his wife's shining chestnut hair, which was streaked with a little gray. "He will be."