The first person I recognized when I first entered the halls of Hogwarts was Draco Malfoy. It was hard not to, my older sister Daphne was always talking about him and his supposed 'girlfriend' Pansy. I didn't like Pansy much, so I assumed Draco couldn't be all that pleasant either.
I already knew about the sorting hat from Daphne and wasn't surprised when I was placed in Slytherin, that was the plan, after all. When it was announced, I casually walked over to the Slytherin table, where my sister motioned me over.
"I knew you would be in Slytherin, Asteria." Daphne had said happily. What was so extraordinary about this escaped me, but I merely nodded.
"So this is your little sister?" Pansy eyed me. She had short hair, a small figure, and in a way, resembled a pug. Why Draco would even think to date her totally escaped me.
"Yes, I'm Asteria."
"What kind of name is that?" Pansy wrinkled her nose.
Could say the same to you. I thought, but kept my mouth clamped shut. No need for unnecessary fights on the first day of school.
When everyone was finally sorted out, the feast began. I was thrilled to see the variety of food and started to pick out anything I could get my hands on. While I wasn't a repulsive eater, I was famous for eating a lot.
"Are you hungry Asteria?" Pansy said with a cocky smile, raising one eyebrow.
"Well it wasn't the shortest trip in the world." I curtly replied.
Before Pansy could respond, Draco came over to sit next to her.
"Hey Pansy." Draco said. I carefully averted her eyes so that I wouldn't stare at them.
"Oh, hello Draco." Pansy said, cocking her head to the side in an attempt to look cute. I thought it fell flat.
"How was your summer?"
"Pleasant, yours?"
Their conversation went on in boring monotone.
You would think couples would have interesting things to say instead of the usual things merely said for etiquette. I wondered if that was how it would always be with couples.
"So, who's this?" Draco asked, changing his attention from the wall behind Pansy to me.
I flinched a bit in surprise at the sudden attention on myself.
"I-I'm Asteria." I finally managed to say.
"My sister." Daphne quickly added in; as if that would lessen the embarrassment.
"Oh, really." Draco looked mildly amused. "Funny, you don't look alike."
That much was true. Daphne had brown curly hair and, in general, had a happy disposition. While I had dark brown hair that was generally straight and didn't tend to smile as often.
Daphne smiled and laughed a little, while I gave him a single glance.
He seemed more amused by my reaction than Daphne's, but didn't say more because Pansy was just begging for attention.
When I was sure Draco wasn't looking, I stole a few glances at him. He was undeniably pale, with platinum blonde hair, that was just yellow enough to not blend in with his face. His eyes were gray, like the sea after a storm, and he always had a cocky smile on his face. But I still had the feeling it would crumple easily under a challenge.
Perhaps that Harry Potter boy. I thought, remembering all the stories my sister had told me during the summers. I turned around to get a look at the Gryffindor tables and found him easily.
He was sitting with this red head boy and a girl with hair bigger than her head. They were surrounded by the rest of the Weasley's. I had heard of them, but never talked to them. Mother and Father didn't like them very much.
Soon, the dinner ended and everyone was rounded up and put in their dormitories. Fortunately enough, I was to share with my sister. Hogwarts couldn't be that bad, could it?
I only saw Draco a few times that year. And the next, to be honest. But during my third year, when he was in his fifth, I ran into him during class changes, dropping all my books on the floor. I sighed, and started to pick them up.
Draco momentarily stopped talking to Goyle, and looked down at me.
"Asteria?" He asked.
Momentarily stunned by the fact that he remembered my name, I didn't respond. I finished picking up my books and then stood back up.
"Sorry for running into you." I replied to the apology that should've been said.
"No problem." He absently replied, infuriating me further.
I momentarily glared at him, surprising him, much to my pleasure.
"Hope to see you again, Draco... Goyle." Draco looked stunned as I turned around and walked off.
I knew, from my sister, that almost no one called him Draco, most preferring to use Malfoy. I wondered if Draco was what his parents used when he was in trouble. But as soon as I got to class, all thoughts of Draco were pushed out of my mind. I didn't need him ruining the rest of my years.
"Be careful of Pansy tomorrow." Daphne warned me.
"Why?" I inquired, mostly out of curiosity.
"She's not in a good mood. Supposedly convinced that Malfoy is interested in another lady." Something in my stomach leapt.
"Does she have any suspects?" I tried to act casual.
"I don't know... Why? Do you have an idea?" Daphne looked excited, being a slave for Pansy must pay.
"Just curious about who could possibly attract Draco's attention so easily."
"Stop that Asteria!" Daphne wrinkled her nose. "Only Pansy can call Malfoy by his first name. It's one of those rules Pansy has."
"Oh, really?" It seemed to fall into place, one of the reasons anyway, of why Draco had been looking at her like she had grown three eyes that day.
"Yes, it's one of those... unspoken rules, I guess."
"Got anymore? Because I can't really follow a rule if I don't know it exists."
Daphne came over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Just follow my lead, and you'll do fine."
Somehow, I wasn't so confident.
It was my fourth year. I had staid overtime in my potions class, which I actually kind of liked helping out in, even if Professor Snape could be a pain. I was walking through the halls when I saw Draco walking in the opposite direction. At first, I promptly tried to ignore him, but when we got closer and I glanced at him, I stopped.
His eyes seemed to be glazed over and he seemed to be limping. Without thinking, I walked over to him, and placed my hand on his chin, turning his face so a scar faced me.
"What have you been doing?" I asked, incredulously.
He didn't really look at me, more like beyond me as he whispered, "Nothing."
"Liar." I replied, pulling out my wand and tapping his scar twice, making it disappear. "It's temporary, but it'll speed up the repair."
"Mmm-hmm." He mumbled. I wondered how long he would stand straight before he toppled over.
"Woah!" It happened soon enough. He fell onto me and I tried to catch him, but he was taller, older, and not to mention, male so it wasn't easy. "Get...up...Draco."
Draco didn't respond, just merely stirred a bit.
"Pansy won't be happy about this." I tried in a warning tone, but he didn't respond. As I looked around for help, I started to talk to fill the silence. "Not that it would matter, really. Pansy would fine some excuse to blame me for all of it." I paused trying to think of something Pansy would say. "Maybe, since she knows I'm good at potions, she'll say that I drugged you or something."
"Not too far from the truth..." Draco replied.
I glanced down at him, "Oh really?"
"I'm not saying anything more." He replied firmly as he tried to get up. I steadied him as I replied,
"I could tell that much." When Draco seemed to be steady enough to at least stand, I let him go, ready to catch him if he fell again.
"You know, Pansy thinks you're interested in someone else. It's best she doesn't see me, steadying you. It could be taken the wrong way."
"Why do you care about her so much?" He sounded annoyed.
"I'd like to get through my years without getting the ring leader of the Slytherin girls hating me. They already don't like me that much."
"They don't?" He looked up at me as if he couldn't believe it.
"No." I said firmly. "They don't. And," I added, "Pansy is very creative. She could probably think up something about..." I paused thinking, "me bewitching you, using some sort of spell." I said it jokingly, but when Draco looked at me, his eyes were serious.
"Maybe you have." He said quietly. I didn't speak, too stunned to say anything. Strangely, I wanted to hold him close, yet get as far from him as possible. Not knowing what to do, I didn't move at all. He sighed, as if he'd done something wrong.
"Where's the nurse's office?" He changed the subject, although he sounded like he was going to throw up soon. Worried, I took his wrist,
"Over here!" I didn't want him throwing up near Professor Snape's door, we were on good measures right now and I didn't want to waste it.
When we got there, still holding on to his wrist, tightly, I might add, I called the nurse over.
"What's wrong with him?"
I looked at her, "I have no idea. Probably something psychological as far as I can tell." Then, I shoved him over to her, letting his hand go.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, glaring at me. I ignored him.
"I trust you'll be well soon Draco?" He looked at me weird. "Right, well see you soon." I nodded to both the nurse and Draco, and fled the scene.
After that, I avoided him for the rest of the year, ducking whenever I saw him. Luckily, he didn't pursue me either. Seeing him next to Pansy irked me, but I was in enough trouble already.
I was pretty sure, from my reaction that day, that I did have a bit of a crush on Draco. But obviously, knowing Draco, he'd get over it.
He always seemed more interested in terrorizing Harry and his friends than getting cozy with Pansy anyway.
A little after the Second Wizard War, where I had helped treat the injured, I read on the newspaper that the Malfoy's had avoided Azkaban. Skeeter obviously wasn't pleased, insisting that they should've been punished. But that's what she said of Professor Snape, so I didn't take her opinions to heart.
Draco, from what I know, had broken up with Pansy. Or rather, she had broken up with him, claiming he was starting to get on Harry's side. For days on after that, Pansy had terrorized me. Stupid Draco...
The class was alive with all the chatter and gossip of the war. Everyone seemed to be a cross between being sullen and sad, and curious and inquisitive. All the students were trading rumors and information they had gotten on the war, comparing and dissecting them so, that I was convinced they had no respect for the dead at all.
What particularly irritated me was the talk on Professor Snape some had. Talking about how they were glad that he was dead. Horrible people.
I mostly kept to myself, not that anyone cared to talk to me. I wasn't part of the war, and didn't have any friends, so therefore, I was of no interest on the current topic.
It was a week before I would graduate. It was after classes and I was outside, enjoying the nice day alone when a voice spoke behind me.
"Asteria?" My back stiffened. I slowly turned around, disbelievingly.
"Draco?" I felt my eyes widen in disbelief. Not in surprise that he was alive, but in surprise that he would go through the trouble to come here at all.
"Thank god, I wasn't mistaken." He said as he came by to sit next to me.
"A-Are you well, Draco?" I stammered, trying to make conversation.
"Yes." He said quickly, much too quickly, actually.
"I trust, that your family is doing well?"
He scoffed, "About as well as they could be."
"So it's true then." I said, turning to him.
"What is?"
"All the rumors I've heard. The school has taken pleasure out of defacing you in any ways possible."
"That much I had figured." He said nonchalantly, "After all, Harry Potter is the hero, isn't he? The chosen one. The great one."
"And what do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Nothing particular." He replied. I didn't believe him.
"Do you feel that you have been cheated?" I asked, trying to piece things together.
"A little, I admit. But I guess I deserved most of what befell on me. To some, I would be considered lucky."
"But you do not agree."
"Not always, sometimes I believe I might as well be dead." I looked at him. Maybe my look had changed, since he asked, "Did I say something?"
"No. Not at all." I tried to comprehend what he had said. "But... what is so horrible about your life right now?"
"People... judge you on your past actions rather than what you are doing right now." He narrowed his eyes, as if to struggle with words. "I know I wasn't the master of decision-making, but things have changed since then. Or I would like to believe that."
"Well, you have to prove it to them." I said. "Own up to your mistakes, and even out the amount of bad things and good things."
"Even if I try it would take until hell froze over."
"And how do you know that?" My voice rose out of annoyance. "You give up so easily. At least you have the chance to make amends with your mistakes." The bitterness was evident in my tone. "I pity you Draco." I got up. "For you will never ever find fulfillment in your life. And not because it was inevitable but because you could not muster up the courage to do so!" I stomped off, my face red from anger and embarrassment at my sudden outburst.
"Wait, Asteria!" He grabbed my wrist, too quick for me to avoid. I jerked to a stop, making him stumble a bit, to my satisfaction.
"What?" I asked sharply.
"I-I'm sorry for troubling you." He reluctantly let go of my wrist. I turned around to see him recollect himself, standing up straighter. "I-I just..." He ran his finger through his hair. "I wanted to talk to you because you were the only one I knew, who didn't know my past. Who wouldn't judge me by it."
I looked at him. "You want to start over, but..."
"I'm not sure how." He finished, looking embarrassed.
"Well," I said, not sure what to say. "I guess I could help you on that."
"...Really?" He asked, caught off guard.
"First," I started, ignoring him. "don't bully others. I've been bullied by Pansy enough to know that it's not nice."
"I guess that's a no-brainer..."
"Second, forget everything... well, almost everything that your parents taught you."
"Such as?"
"The whole 'mudblood' deal. You can still believe in it for all I care, but don't let it be known, because people will give you hell for that."
"Anything else?"
"...Find someone that actually likes you for you instead of your status or looks."
"Like Pansy?" He teased.
"Like Pansy."
"...Well, I think I've already found that 'someone.'" My heart skipped a beat as he slowly wrapped his hand around mine.
"You sure?" I asked, a little breathless.
"I promise."
THE END.
Okay, I edited out the grammar mistakes I could find, but I'm not a grammar nazi so there probably is some others.
So this is just my theory on how someone could capture Draco's heart aside from Pansy without Harry taking a notice.
Hope you like it :)