This is a series of drabbles I wrote for a HP writing challenge called "Last Drabble Writer Standing" over on livejournal. I ended up being disqualified due to forgetting to turn one in, but I made it to the top five, so I felt pretty proud of these. Each drabble had to be between 100 and 499 words, and in order to challenge myself, I tried to write about characters I had little to no experience writing. Actually, the title of this "collection" is Things Have Changed For Me because of that--I've never written drabbles before, so this was a fun challenge. I hope you enjoy them! As always, reviews are absolute love.

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Challenge 1: All Was Well

All was well – or was it? For the first challenge, write a drabble that immediately follows the end of the epilogue of Deathly Hallows from the PoV of any canon character. The character must be someone who was at King's Cross that day, but does not have to be one JK Rowling explicitly mentioned.

Title: How the Other Half Lives

Scoripus had been gone only a few moments, and already, the ache in Astoria's heart had grown unbearable. Sniffing mightily, she turned away from the rapidly disappearing steam engine, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

"He's going to be fine." Draco's arm snaked around her waist in a surprisingly comforting gesture. "You'll see. When he owls us about his sorting, he'll be raving about the new friends he's made and the food and the castle. You remember how exciting your first night was—the boy will love it."

"My first night was miserable. Daphne was furious I wasn't in Slytherin—she told me I'd brought shame upon the whole Greengrass family just by being in Ravenclaw." Astoria sniffed again, reaching into her pocket for a handkerchief. "I'm sorry, Draco, I'm sorry. I'll just miss him."

"Of course, dear." Draco's grip on her waist tightened. "I will, too." Astoria nodded her assent and glanced up at her husband, smiling a little. Draco was a good man, no matter what people seemed determined to paint him as. She remembered the way he'd acknowledged his old school enemies just twenty minutes ago or so, and smiled.

"Wasn't that Harry Potter you nodded at earlier?" she asked.

"What does Potter have to do with anything?" Draco looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"I just thought it was a nice gesture." Astoria's smile widened. "I remember the way the pair of you fought at school."

"You didn't even know me then," Draco reminded her, starting to walk towards the platform entrance. "Come on, love, we should get home." Astoria kept pace with her husband, surveying him thoughtfully.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One …Draco had always avoided his name in the time Astoria had known him and loved him. The boys had hated each other at school, and made no secret of it. Things like that didn't just disappear—more often than not, they festered over the years.

As if on cue, the various Potters and Weasleys walked in front of them, talking enthusiastically. Draco ducked his head and hurried Astoria along through the barrier, obviously wanting to get as far away from them as possible.

"Whatever happened, Draco?" Astoria wondered aloud. "Didn't you used to hate them?" Draco paused for a minute, turning to watch as the Potters and the Weasleys came through the barrier. His eyes followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they stopped for a moment, chatting idly outside the platform.

For a fraction of a second, Astoria was sure Draco would open up to her at last. Instead, he smiled a little, and merely said,

"Yeah…yeah, I did." He dropped his arm from around Astoria's waist, taking her hand in his. "Maybe some day, I'll tell you about it."

"I'd like that," Astoria whispered, squeezing his hand. "Come on, let's go home." Draco squeezed back, nodding his agreement.

Together, the Malfoys walked away from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, leaving the war, and its heroes, behind.