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When Draco entered the spacious living-room he thought he was alone. He didn't see the figure sprawled on the leather couch in a debonair fashion.
He sat himself down and kept looking at his watch.
Daphne had told him she'd be down in ten minutes, at the earliest. He'd grown tired of waiting in his car.
If he had to be honest, the entire drive here had been uncomfortable.
Every new outing with Daphne felt a bit like sixth year, when he had cheated on Pansy with her. The memory hadn't yet gone stale.
The Greengrass estate was horrible and lavish. There were dead animal heads everywhere, just waiting silently.
He heard a small cough. It was coming from somewhere far away from him. The room looked alive, on the brink of dying.
He couldn't identify the sound that came next. It was between a gurggling and a burp. He shuddered. He wondered if a house elf had wandered around this part of the house.
A tall figure rose itself from the couch almost like a dead man rising from the coffin. He jumped up.
A lanky, scruffy, sleepy girl walked up to him. She was wearing slacks and a faded green t-shirt. Her hair was pulled up in a messy pony-tail.
She looked him up and down for a minute, without saying anything. Draco didn't know if he should say anything. He might have remarked how she looked like a total mess, but that would have been an understatement. She shared some of Daphne's features. He wondered if she was some cousin.
'You must be Malfoy, am I right?' she asked listlessly.
'Draco, yes,' he said nodding his head warily. 'I've come to see Daphne Greengrass.'
'I thought so. Daphne! Daphne!' she yelled. 'Malfoy's here!'
There was no reply. She shrugged her shoulders.
'Sorry, she must be taking a bath,' she mumbled.
'How do you know?' he inquired curious.
'All the bathrooms have thicker walls,' she explained.
'Oh, that makes sense. Thanks,' he said carelessly.
He sat himself down again. He felt there was no point prolonging the conversation. If he kept quiet, she would eventually return to her place.
The girl kept staring at him. It looked like she was going to say something, but at the last minute, she turned around and ran up the stairs.
After only five minutes, Draco heard raucous noise coming from above. He recognized Daphne's voice. She was shouting at someone. And throwing objects.
'Get back here! Get back here Astoria!' she was yelling.
Draco grew very uncomfortable. He wondered if 'Astoria' was the girl he had talked to.
Eventually, he saw Daphne coming down, half-dressed, her hair still wet.
'I'm really sorry, Draco, I got attacked by my monster sister,' she said holding a towel to her head.
'She is not well,' she punctuated, shaking her head.
'Sister? I didn't know you had a sister,' he said surprised.
'Of course you did! I've told you about her before.'
'I'm quite sure you didn't actually. I would have remembered,' he said dryly.
'Come off it, I did tell you. Her name's Astoria and she goes to Beauxbatton. That's all you need to know,' she said, rolling her eyes.
'Beauxbatton? The French academy? Why?'
'My parents thought it was better this way. She's a bit hysterical you see. Plus, mum is French, and she wanted at least one of her daughters to get in touch with her 'roots'.'
'Fascinating,' he remarked dryly. 'Well, we'd better be off. I made reservations.'
'Always the gentleman.'
'I try.'
'I'll just go fetch my wand,' she said quickly and ran back upstairs.
Draco was already at the door when yet another bout of suspicious sounds erupted from upstairs. It sounded like all hell had broken loose.
He saw Astoria fly down the stairs in a small fit of rage. She excused herself and ran out the door.
Draco stared at her running figure bewildered. She had already reached the gardens.
'Daphne, your sister, she's run off – ' he began when he saw her climb down the stairs again.
'I know,' she muttered grimly. 'She always makes these horrible scenes. And then she runs off into the gardens and cries or God knows what. Ignore her. She just wants attention.'
Draco couldn't exactly follow Daphne's attitude. Astoria was her sister, after all. She was acting strangely calm about it, as if she was used to all of this.
They walked out the door like any normal couple would.
Draco glanced towards the gardens. Surely, Astoria was sitting in the middle of the gravelled path, looking up towards the sky, sighing softly.
'Should we...?'
'Let's just go,' Daphne said, pulling him towards his car faster.
Draco settled in the driver's seat with a feeling of uneasiness. A year had passed since the War. He had never seen anyone so broken up in twelve months. It was daunting.