House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 795
Category: Standard
Prompt(s): [Weather] Snow
She lay there, in the snow, hair splayed out in all directions, letting the flakes of white fall down and rest on her eyelashes, allowing the little pieces to bury themselves in her hair. Her porcelain skin had a rosy hue to it, her cheeks and nose had turned a bright red color due to the biting cold. She was the image of beauty and grace, yet she couldn't find it in her to play and laugh in the snow like all her other classmates.
They saw joy in the snow, they saw happiness and a fresh start out of this chilling winter. But they hadn't seen what she had, and she was sure that she would never be able to see snow the same way again. Whenever Astoria looked at the snow she would see the flashes of her past, the pristine white would flash a vivid red.
She knew what the red was, she had watched them kill that boy, out in the cold winter, all because he didn't want to be a part of the darkness anymore.
It wasn't fair, in her eyes, that she should get to see the snow again and again after the war, when that stranger would never get to see the snow again. She heard crunching in the snow, opening her eyes and looking up she saw a blonde boy, dressed in green school robes, who decided to sit himself down next to her. Draco Malfoy, her betrothed. She offered him a smile, one that he tried to return before he stared at the snow, as if in a daze. They sat there quietly, with the knowledge that soon they would be leaving Hogwarts, and that they would be starting a family together.
They weren't wrong, the months after graduating from Hogwarts were spent planning an elaborate and elegant wedding for the two of them. Astoria worked with her mother and Narcissa Malfoy to make the wedding everything they wanted it to be, because really, what use was there in arguing with the two matriarchs?
After months and months of planning, the wedding finally took place on the first day of winter, it hadn't snowed yet that year. But, as Astoria walked down the aisle towards the man she was supposed to marry, it started to snow lightly, the little flakes falling delicately from the sky. Draco's lips curved into what resembled a smile, and Astoria couldn't help but smile as well, because maybe, just maybe, the snow wasn't that bad, and perhaps these new memories of the snow would replace the old.
The two said their vows, and moved towards the reception, where all the guests gushed about how perfect the snow made the wedding. All of them congratulating Narcissa, Mrs. Greengrass, and Astoria on this magnificent feat. All of them acting as if they somehow controlled the weather.
Even Lucius Malfoy had managed to attend the wedding, the guests presumed that he'd bribed or tricked a guard into letting him attend. Which back in sixth year wouldn't have been plausible, but dementors had been taken out of the prisons except to give their kiss after the war. They were seen as too risky, after all that had happened with them turning during the war, no one wanted them around, especially the prisoners.
It was a lot of pressure, being a pureblood herself, and marrying into a very pure lineage, they were expected to have a child within the first year of being married. That brought Astoria a lot of 'what ifs'. What if she couldn't have a child, and even if she did, what if the child didn't make it? They swirled through her mind constantly. Yet, despite it all, on January 13th, 2006, little Scorpius Malfoy was brought into the world. He was a healthy and happy little baby, and he absolutely adored the snow.
When he was first able to walk she would take him out into the snow, laughing with him as he tossed it around and played happily in it. It became a ritual for the two of them, snow days were always fun for Scorpius. At least Astoria would make sure that would be true, because these happy memories would be with him for the rest of his lifetime.
But now she was laying there, hair splayed out in all directions, freezing despite being covered by many layers of blankets. Her vision slowly fading to black, panic welling up inside her fragile body because this couldn't be it. It wasn't winter yet, she couldn't go yet, she needed to stay. And yet, fate had different plans. Plans where death decided to carry her away, making sure she wouldn't see another winter again.
Making sure she wouldn't see anything ever again.