The Laingdon Palace Hotel was a popular venue for wizarding parties, particularly amongst purebloods. It was a Friday night and Blaise Zabini's birthday party was in full swing; the music was loud and the drink was being poured thick and fast.
Draco Malfoy was propped up at the bar. Alone. Although he wouldn't particularly consider Blaise a good friend - there was a time when they'd have been considered rivals above anything else - Draco did occasionally allow Blaise to convince him to attend social gatherings such as these. He sat and observed the other guests as they chatted to each other freely and danced on the nearby dance floor.
The Battle of Hogwarts took place almost six years ago and Draco was yet to live down the events which took place in his teenage years. Many of the acquaintances he'd made at school treated him warily. Most people didn't know what to make of him, and sometimes he barely knew what to make of himself. Although his life had improved since his sixth and final year at school and the horrors that proceeded it, this wasn't without the help of medication - he took sleeping draughts regularly just to see him through the night, not to mention his anti-anxiety potion.
He'd gone through a phase of heavy drinking and partying not long after the war. Draco had loved nothing more than heading to a club or a private party with people he'd once considered friends. Drink fuelled his confidence, and he'd often ended up with the prettiest witch he could find. In the last couple of years, however, he'd started attending events less often, in an attempt to distance himself from the company he used to keep.
Draco rarely trusted girls enough to take them home with him. With his antics splashed across the pages of the Daily Prophet almost weekly, he came to realise that witches were going with him for one reason only: his notoriety. He tried not to care, but it hurt.
Draco sat staring into his glass of fire whiskey and recalled the last time he'd left a party with company. It was well over a year ago now, and it had ended disastrously. The morning after, he'd made sure the girl had left early before making his way to the dining room - he'd found his mother waiting there with a glass of juice already poured for him. He'd slumped down into a chair before his mother announced that his 'promiscuity would do him no favours when the time came to find a respectable wife.'
He'd stared at his mother across the table, but before he'd had time to lie about what he'd been up to the previous night, she threw a copy of the morning paper across the table at him. He was faced with photographic evidence of him leaving the party with the girl he'd just told to leave, looking a little worse for wear.
"For Merlin's sake…" he'd muttered under his breath. "They twist everyth-"
"Save the excuses, Draco," his mother had cut across him. She'd risen from the table and made her way towards the door. "When are you going to learn that sound travels?"
Draco had flushed red, realising with horror that he hadn't cast a silencing charm the night before. And that was the last time he'd ever brought a witch back to the Manor.
Trying to shake this mortifying memory, he looked up from his glass. He wasn't alone at the bar any longer; a pretty, brunette girl was stood a few feet away ordering a drink. Draco thought he recognised her, but struggled to recall where from. As the bartender mixed the girl's drink, she glanced in Draco's direction, catching his eye. She smiled. Draco's mouth twitched in an attempt to return the gesture and she turned away again. He finished his drink, and gazed back towards the dance floor where he could spot many a familiar face, but no-one he particularly wished to socialise with.
Turning back towards the bar, he was surprised to see the brunette girl walking in his direction with her drink and a firewhiskey.
"I got you a drink," she said as she reached him, placing it on the bar in front of him.
There was a brief moment where Draco allowed his confusion to twist his face into a frown, looking from the girl to the drink.
"It's ok," the girl laughed. "I didn't slip you a love potion or anything."
"Thanks," he said uncertainly, looking back towards the girl trying desperately to place her. It was useless. "Sorry, but do I know you?"
The girl raised an eyebrow but couldn't help smiling in amusement. Had she actually expected Draco Malfoy to recognise her?
"You were in classes with my sister at Hogwarts."
Involuntarily, Draco's eyes narrowed out of suspicion. Was she another witch out for a steamy one night stand with an ex-Death Eater? She certainly knew who he was. Then again, who didn't.
"I'm Astoria -"
"Greengrass," Draco interrupted her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise - so he did know her, or at least know of her. "Daphne's sister." He felt a weird sense of triumph at being able to identify someone a year or two his junior.
"For my sins," Astoria jested. Feeling himself relax slightly, Draco smirked in amusement. "Can I join you?" she asked him.
"Sure." He watched as Astoria pulled up a stool and perched herself upon it, crossing her legs delicately and reaching round to pull her loose curls over one shoulder, before twisting a strand of hair around her finger repeatedly. She took a sip from her drink, turning to face Draco.
"I used to see you out a lot," she told him. "Not so much lately…"
"Let's just say I got bored of being the Daily Prophet's gossip page bait."
Astoria laughed. He knew straight away that she'd seen the stories. Draco's eyes flickered back and forth between hers. He was trying to fathom what Astoria wanted. Was she just being friendly, or was she after something more? Perhaps Daphne had sent her over to get some gossip - she'd always been a nosy cow. Despite his suspicions, Draco stayed chatting with Astoria. There was something about her that drew him in in a way he couldn't quite explain.
A couple of hours and many drinks later, Draco and Astoria were still sat together up at the bar. Her friends had dragged her away to dance once or twice but she'd always returned to him. He made her laugh. After her third trip to the dance floor, she tottered back over to Draco and refused to sit down.
"Come and dance!" she said in his ear, trying to grab his hand. He found himself face to face with her, noticing a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"No. No. I don't dance!" he raised his voice over the music, pulling his hand out of her grip.
Astoria stared at him defiantly, and he held her gaze, daring her to pursue the matter any further. "I know you dance because I've seen you with other girls. You do realise that almost every witch in here knows you're partial to a bit of bump and grind?" she teased him.
Draco gave a short laugh, shaking his head. She was right - he always used to dance with girls at parties and it almost always got fairly heated on the dance floor, but it had been a while. Astoria took hold of his hand again, persistently. "Come on! I love to dance!" she shouted, giggling. "Dance with me!"
Reluctantly Draco got up off of his barstool and rolled his eyes, but he was smiling nonetheless, wondering why Astoria had become so attached to him so quickly. For a split second he lost balance, grabbing hold of the bar. He was more drunk than he'd realised. Astoria didn't seem to notice. She was too busy lacing her fingers through his and she pulled him in the direction of the dance floor and started squeezing her way through to the very centre.
Blaise caught sight of Draco and slapped him on the shoulder. Draco turned and Blaise shot him an inquisitive look, nodding his head towards Astoria.
Draco shrugged. "Don't ask me!" he yelled over the music before disappearing further into the crowd.
Finally, Astoria seemed to settle on a spot she was happy with, just as a sexy rhythm and blues song came on. She turned to face Draco, who felt a little awkward to begin with as they swayed to the music with almost a foot between their bodies but their fingers still intertwined. It really had been a while. Slowly, Astoria got closer and closer to him until her arms wound their way around his neck. She began to grind her body against him and Draco found his hands moving to her waist, inching their way to her hips.
He felt as though his heart was in his mouth, his mind going into overdrive. Where was this night going to lead? He hadn't planned on picking a girl up - Merlin, he hadn't even planned on coming to the party. He couldn't help but wonder whether they were going to end up between the sheets.
He felt Astoria's hands exploring, making their way down his back. He started to relax, responding to her dance moves. He was moving to the music as she rubbed herself against him and it reminded him of the partying days he'd left behind, only Astoria was more intriguing than any of the others.
Astoria couldn't take her eyes off of him. She knew about him but she didn't seem to care. She was far too tipsy and he was far too enticing with those mysterious, grey eyes.
Draco became conscious of Astoria watching him. His eyes had been roaming all over her body as she danced on him. He slid his hands around to her backside and before he knew it she was kissing him passionately. There was nothing he could do, nothing he wanted to do, but kiss her back. He felt her tongue graze against his and it only made him hungry for more.
Astoria broke the kiss and looked him right in the eyes, his forehead resting against hers. Draco smirked at her, a hard look in his eyes, before the song changed. Astoria turned her back on him and started dancing on him again. His fingers moved lightly down her ribcage before finding her hips again. He leaned down, kissing her neck as his hands continued to explore. Just as he slipped a hand under the hem of her dress he stopped himself going any further. She tilted her head back, wanting to speak to him. Draco leaned in closer.
"Do you want to go back to mine?" she asked. Draco wasn't too surprised by this proposition after the dance moves she'd been pulling.
"I have a room booked upstairs," he said in her ear. His last night out had ended with him being slapped with a three-month apparition ban. He didn't care to repeat the same mistake.
Before Draco even knew what was happening, Astoria was leading him off of the dance floor towards the exit. A short distance away, Daphne stood with Blaise trying to understand what he was saying over the music.
"What?!" she yelled.
"Your sister! And Draco!" Blaise shouted back.
"Malfoy?! Are you kidding me?!" Daphne's eyes widened with a mix of surprise and horror, scanning the room, but she was too late to see Draco and Astoria slipping out of the door and heading towards the staircase.
Upstairs, Draco hurried Astoria into his hotel room and closed the door behind them. Astoria launched herself at him, kissing him with the same passion she had on the dance floor. Draco pressed her eagerly against the wall, before lifting her of her feet, her legs wrapping around his waist.
"Astoria," he said breathlessly between kisses. "Astoria."
She looked at him inquisitively with her beautiful brown eyes. "Are you sure you want to..?"
Astoria put her feet back down on the floor and pushed Draco towards the bed. Did he really need her to answer that? She tugged at his shirt, popping open some of the buttons, hoping he would take the hint.
Burning with desire, Draco didn't push her for an answer. He didn't need to, after all. He pulled her dress over her head and tossed it to the side, pulling her down on top of him. She ripped off his shirt completely, revealing the faint scars on his chest - his reminder of everything he'd been through. Somehow, he knew she wouldn't ask. She made quick work of his trousers, too, and it wasn't long before they were at it - they couldn't keep their hands or their eyes off of each other. It was only in the moment that Draco realised how much he'd missed being intimate with someone. Somehow, this felt different to the others.
Throughout the night, Astoria lost count of the amount of times Draco brought her to climax. It wasn't much before four in the morning when they both collapsed onto the bed, completely exhausted. She could hardly believe what had just happened. It was certainly an experience.
"I hope you won't regret that," Draco said suddenly into the darkness, breathing heavily.
"Of all the things there are to regret in my life, that's certainly not one of them," Astoria reassured him.
The night of February 18th 2004 was just the beginning of Draco and Astoria's story.