"Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"
She paused for a moment as she let the harsh words sink in. As she shook her hair from her face, she turned back, possessing far more grace than the man standing behind her. Despite the fact that she wore an old Hogwarts uniform skirt, Astoria Greengrass held herself with as much dignity as she could.
"Shouldn't you be sober?" She snapped back, but her words had no affect on Draco Malfoy. She hadn't really expected a few sharp words to pierce the icy exterior Draco Malfoy was so talented at keeping up. She had, foolishly, thought he would've changed after the war, but it seemed he had become colder than he had been before. That in itself was a miracle because Astoria Greengrass was a very level headed person and she had not believed it was even possible for Draco Malfoy to be even more of an ass than he already was. In that regard, Draco had achieved the impossible, but it did little to impress her.
That singular moment between them in Diagon Alley was no different than any other moment between them prior to that time. Yes, things had changed drastically since the last time Astoria had been forced to be in Draco's company, but that appeared to affect him very little, if it had at all. As such, Astoria turned away from him to continue picking up the rest of her books for her classes, knowing she was one of the last students in Diagon Alley that day. If she waited around, arguing with Draco Malfoy, she ran the risk of missing the train. So, with no second glances or lingering stares, Astoria continued through the bookstore and quickly headed for a fireplace to catch her train. She hadn't even paused to send one last biting remark.
Life had become easy for Astoria after that. Draco was no longer at Hogwarts and she was perfectly free to continue life as though nothing had happened. Of course, a lot of things had happened, and so many things had changed, by Astoria was not one to let such things hinder her. She had lost friends, but kept them close to her as she moved through her classes, pausing to cherish the ones that had lived alongside her.
She also knew that it was much easier for her than for many others. At least the Slytherins. The majority of the ones who had survived were young. There only a handful of Slytherins in their seventh year, and nearly half the sixth year class, her class, was missing as well. That alone seemed enough of a burden, but Astoria knew the Slytherin House carried much more than those few loses. The rest of the school may not have seen it, or may not have understood, but Astoria had been raised in a very delicate position her entire life, and taught how to keep the balance around her.
She had been a pureblood but one who had been blessed with a father who knew the delicacy of Voldermolt and all the hardships he would bring. It had not been easy, but the Greengrass family had somehow managed to remain members of the elitist society as pureblood and yet keep their hands clean of Voldermolt and all his crimes.
In that regard, Astoria knew the majority of the surviving Slytherins had lost elder siblings and parents. They had lost social standing. They had lost their fortunes and their ways of life. And perhaps the most difficult part of it all, they had lost the respect of every other House at Hogwarts. It seemed only the first and second years were accepted by the other Houses only because they were far too young to have any hand in what had shook the school months ago.
For all those reasons, Astoria stood out as though she were color in a black and white world, when really she was just a spot of blue at a table of green and silver. With a smile, she was accepted by her fellow classmates, girls who envied her for her intact family and sanity. Without letting silly things stand in the way, Astoria simply struck up conversation and as though they had been friends their entire lives, the Ravenclaw held a place at the Slytherin table effortlessly.
For the majority of the school year, Astoria was one of the only ones willing to cross divides that had seemed to strengthen after the war. Hermione and Ginny, both seventh years for Hermione had returned to make up for the year she had missed, could not understand the insanity that surrounded them. Harry had nearly died several times throughout his life to end the divides and in the process of defeating Voldermolt, he had somehow made it so much worse.
Because Astoria was quite possibly one of the few who understood, Hermione and Ginny had joined her, the two Gryffindors ad the single Ravenclaw becoming a symbol of a kind of acceptance so very few were capable of. All acceptance aside, the three women shared something else in common that made the three far more relatable to the rest of the school. They were also bound by a shared annoyance of Draco Malfoy. It was something that made the three almost angelic presences feel far more human to everyone else.
On the Anniversary of the War, The Great Hall was cleared and opened up for a Ball held in Harry Potter's honor. Though he felt absolutely honored by the gesture, everything had left his mind when he danced with Ginny. Hours had melted into a minutes and nothing lasted nearly long enough. The same held true for Hermione and Ron, leaving Astoria Greengrass along the edge of the Great Hall watching her closest friends with envy. How she wanted to experience everything they had.
Her younger age was a bit of an obstacle, for she had not experienced the war the same as the two had either. Most people assumed the war and their romances had nothing to do with each other, but Astoria was smarter than that. Hermione admitted that what should've been her seventh year had made all the difference in her relationship with Ron, and Ginny had been unable to breathe as she waited for the war to come to a conclusion. She had so many people to look for, so many brothers, and yet Harry's green eyes had been what she had longed to see the most. All that aside, Astoria was happy for the two and simply waited for her chance at the kind of love they had found.
"You clean up nice." A male's voice tore Astoria's gaze to the side, but she could not believe the sight before her.
"What are you doing here?" She sighed as she turned away from him, wondering how he had ever gotten a girlfriend considering he could not even give a proper compliment.
"I was invited." Draco answered.
"Can't imagine why." Astoria replied without looking to him. "It was your mother who should've been invited."
"Aren't we nice tonight?"
He replied, lightheartedly as though her words had not affected him. Of course they hadn't. Draco had an infuriating way of never letting anything bother him. But something was different in his voice, and Astoria could hear it. He wasn't drunk.
"Are you sober?" She asked, her surprise offending him. With only a sigh, Draco nodded as he held her gaze.
"It is possible, you know."
"Ok," Astoria laughed as she turned away from Draco to look at Hermione and Ginny once more. She could not see the expression across Draco's face, but noticed Hermione's odd glance in her direction. Letting it go, Astoria simply turned and headed towards the table with refreshments. Draco remained against the wall, finding he was quite possibly the most unwanted person in the room. As his eyes followed Astoria, he found she was even willing to dance with his fellow Slytherins, and seemed fairly happy to do so.
He couldn't help but pick at the boy's dancing form, nor did Draco care for now low the Slytherin dared to put his hand on Astoria's back. She was not Daphne, after all, and needed to be treated much better than what Draco was witnessing before him. He may not have been so very appreciative of the "stuck up" Greengrass daughter during his Hogwarts years, but he was quickly learning Astoria had simply been the classy Greengrass daughter while Daphne had proved to be a bit of a disaster. She was barely 18 and on her way down the aisle, but Draco had a theory that an early pregnancy would be announced soon. He wouldn't dare ask Astoria for details, though. He would earn himself a stare coupled with her well crafted remarks he actually missed after some time apart.
"Might I cut in?" Draco asked as he tapped the Slytherin on the shoulder. He held his head high, and came off as though he were better than nearly everyone else in the room, and Astoria's expression proved she did not care for the act in the slightest. None the less, she smiled flawlessly and Put a sweet kiss on the Slytherin's cheek before she offered her hand to Draco. Astoria was far too elegant and classy to turn him down in the middle of the dance floor.
"What do you want, Draco?" Astoria sighed as she started to dance with him, actually enjoying his more precise steps to the clumsy ones belonging to the boy she had been dancing with prior to him. Of course, knowing the steps was only a piece of the dance. Astoria quickly found that Draco was stiff and emotionless in his dance steps. He had almost no rhythm and was quite stiff compared to Astoria's fluid dance steps.
"I was saving you from him." Draco replied, seeming to know without a doubt that he had not lost his ability to charm beautiful women. Astoria, however, remained as unimpressed as she had been her entire life.
"Well, now I have you to dance with," Astoria answered. "Who might save me from you?"
"And I was the cold one?" Draco asked, Astoria doing her best not to smile at him. Draco had never been charming and nothing had changed that. She refused to let him think otherwise.
"He might've been overly friendly, but you can hardly move." Astoria answered as she shifted the position of her hand so that it rest more closely to his neck than to his shoulder. He tried to remember when he had injured that shoulder, because as Astoria's hand moved, he felt a tingling sensation move down his side. It had to be a lingering side effect of some sort of abrasion. He couldn't actually recall the wound, but did his best to focus on Astoria rather than where she touched him.
"Exactly what do you mean by that?" He asked.
"You're stiff." She answered simply. "You're dead. You can't dance at all." She told him, but her bright eyes and the slight smile across her lips kept her words from sounding as harsh as he knew she had wanted them. She did make her point, however, as she pulled her delicate hand from his rough one. She had also started to retrieve her hand from his neck, but it had taken her a bit longer as she fingers brushed against his neck above the collar of his shirt. It was then Draco knew he had not been wounded on that side of his body. It was just Astoria's gentle touch that did that to him.
Perhaps, under any other circumstances, she would not have brought out such a reaction in him. Draco knew the reason had to be that no other woman was willing to share their gentle touch for him. Perhaps, Hermione and maybe Ginny, because they were quite possibly the most mature and understanding women he knew, but Draco knew dances with them meant completely different things. They had Weasley and Potter. Astoria had nobody, and did not let her annoyance affect her touches the way anyone else would have.
"I can dance just fine, I'll have you know." Draco called out after Astoria had already turned away from and started to leave the dance floor. They had not argued in so long that Astoria took a moment to recognize the challenging tone in his voice. He made it fairly simply to realize as he narrowed his eyes. She half expected a smirk to appear but when it never did, Astoria took a step towards him.
"Really?" Astoria asked, skeptically as she rose an eyebrow at him. "I beg to differ, Draco."
"I'm sure you would. You always love to argue against me."
"Not true." Astoria replied, daring to take another step in his direction. "It was never the arguing that I enjoyed. I simply liked pointed out when others were wrong."
"You mean me."
"You were wrong fairly often."
"You're such a Ravenclaw, did you know that?" Draco asked. He knew they'd exchanged almost identical words before, but something was different now. Astoria was not glaring at him, her eyes dark. Instead, she'd lost the battle with her lips and a smile could be clearly seen by everyone in the room. Similarly, Draco wore nothing reminiscent of a smirk, nor was he scowling at the girl before him. In a very harsh contrast, Draco's eyes were lit up, and his face was open, as was his outstretched hand to Astoria. He was bent on proving it to her.
"And pray tell me, what were the characteristics of a Slytherin which you so proudly held onto?" Astoria asked, taking another step towards him, but refusing to put her hand in his just yet.
"Charming."
"Oh please." Astoria rolled her eyes as she started to turn away, but Draco stepped towards her and pull her into his arms, his hand finding a place on her waist respectfully. His other hand wrapped around hers as he placed it close to his neck, the same spot she had been willing to touch just moments ago.
"I'm stubborn." He replied and Astoria only smiled at him.
"That sounds far more realistic." She commented as she let Draco take the first step in their dance. At first, he seemed to have hardly changed as they moved in calculated steps, but as his hand slowly moved to the small of her back, he moved easily alongside her. As though they had shared hundreds of dances in the past, the pair slid across the floor. To onlookers, it was almost as if Astoria had given part of her grace to Draco, and as such the two became a rather envied dancing pair.
As the song concluded, Draco and Astoria slowed to a stop, but Astoria lingered in his arms for a moment before she pulled back, amazed at his dancing abilities. Her amazement was clearly written across her bright smile and eyes, but Draco remained calm and collected as he was talented at doing.
"I suppose you aren't all bad." Astoria told him as she stepped from his arms and turned away, Draco followed her off of the dancing floor.
"Is that all you have to say?" He called to her, and Astoria paused as she turned back to him. She had been moving towards the exit, and so she stood in the doorway as she looked back at him.
"Well, if that's what it takes to get a good dance out of you, no wonder you don't have a date." Astoria commented, pulling giggles and suppressed laughs from the crowd eavesdropping on the charismatic pair.
"Excuse me?" Draco called back to her, watching as her smile widened and her eyes seemed to shine even brighter than before.
"I'm only pointing it out, Draco."
"You're doing a bit more than that."
"Well, whatever you'd like to call it."
"Everyone in the world calls it flirting." Draco responded and for the first time, Astoria broke eye contact with Draco to look down at her fingers. Her dark curls had fallen around her face, but Draco caught a glimpse of the blush that had quickly appeared across her cheeks. She took a moment before she met his gaze again, and if it had been possible for her smile even wider, she might've done so.
"No comment on that one?" Draco asked and Astoria let out a soft laugh.
"Not really, Draco." She admitted before she turned started to turn away from him, intent on escaping the stares.
"So next year, then?" He asked and Astoria paused. She did not turn her entire body, but instead simply peered over her shoulder at the blonde man still standing an impossible distance away from her, even if it was just a few steps.
"Next year, what?"
"I'm assuming I still won't be a good enough dancer to get a date, so I'm just curiously if you'll be dateless too."
Astoria had to rethink her position on Draco's ability to charm, but until then, she simply met his eyes. "Owl me when it comes around." She told him simply before she turned and finally made her exit. Things had certainly changed, expect Astoria knew exactly what it was. Though she couldn't be sure, she assumed Draco knew it as well. Of all the things he was, he had never been particularly stupid.