Disclaimer: I dont own any of the characters or places or anything else you recognize, you know who does if you recognize them.
Set after Deathly Hallows.
Summary: She had always wanted to be one of those perfect little wives with their charming husbands.
A/N: This has been twidded with and changed so much I'm not sure what I was aiming for in the first place. Anyway, It was on my laptop and I'm sick of looking at it so...Oh, trying out Asteria instead of Astoria this time, cause it does seem quite better and Asteria is the name of five greek goddress or something (Isn't Wikipedia great =])...Doubt this will be what most think and I know there will be typos and mistakes (Which I apologize for) cause I doubt I'm anymore a writer than a monkey...
There were spaces between the floorboards.
They were small, unnoticeable; not apparent from afar, yet from her place on the floor by the fire, she could see them clearly. They were not even that far apart yet they still didn't touch. She found this little realisation had quite an impact on her. She thought about the boards and how long they had laid together all these years yet they never touched, apart from the odd scrape together when a foot weighted enough pushed them to it.
She decided then that she would fix the floorboards in the morning, she'd go and research repair charms in the library and fix the boards with ease. It would cause no hassle and it would please her to have everything prefect.
Yes, the floorboards would be fixed and everyone would comment on how beautifully put together the whole room was. Yes, it'd be beautiful and fixed and perfect.
Asteria sighed and lifted herself off the floor, grimacing as her legs protested against her movements. She reminded herself she wasn't that old and rolled her eyes as her knees gave another protesting groan, before retiring her night-robes and silently dulling the embers in the mantle. She returned her book back to its proper place on the small bookshelf by the door as she made her way towards the main staircase in the entrance hall. She took her time when climbing the stairs and by habit counted each marble stone she stepped on and thought of how she should be happy that she lived in such a residence. She thought about the floorboards and stopped counting.
When reaching the top landing she turned right and made her way down the hallway pasted grand portraits of former Lords and Ladies until she pasted the fifth corridor and made her way to the end of the hallway. She found the change in temperature welcome on her cold feet.
The carpets from here on were charmed to always be heated, it was one of her own little touches she had brought to the ancient manor when she first moved within it's stone walls.
It seemed fitting that a little warmth and love should brush the ancient walls; the manor was cold and emotionless, much like it's inhabitants.
Coming to a stop at a set of heavy double doors on her left Asteria stood and planed her route as she did every night .She would quietly make her way to the bathroom and rid herself of her robes and prepare herself for bed, all the while being careful not to wake the man that lay wrapped up in the bed sheets. She'd finish and slip in next to him, careful not to wake him or disturb his slumber.
Never Tickle a sleeping Dragon…
No, her husband didn't like to be disturbed from his sleep so she was always quiet and careful not to wake him.
She'd fall asleep with him there and wake with him gone. They never spoke anymore, she never saw him apart from the moments she got into his bed each night. She'd sometimes watch him while he slept and wonder when it happened and she'd try to put a name on it, whatever IT was, but never could. When she tried she could remember nights when he would sit up and read with her and they'd talk over glasses of wine and firewhiskey. She can remember mornings waking up next to him, nothing but the bed sheets covering them. She can remember his touch and voice in her ear, his lips on her neck and-
Asteria frowned and shook her head, pushing the door to their bedroom open. She couldn't remember the last time she'd looked into her husband's eyes.
The past is the Past, History is History and the Present is now and we are apart of it.
She prepared for bed, loosened her hair wit a flick of her wand and pulled on her nightdress before slipping softly into her place by his side. Draco never woke and she brushed as close to him as she dared, longing to touch him just the slightest bit once more. Tenderly she reached her index finger up and barely touching his skin, she traced the outline of his lips; they did not have a sneer or smirk upon them. Along with the rest of his features they were peaceful and relaxed. Asteria usually watched him as he slept; it was the only time she was ever close enough to truly look at him.
He was a handsome man, always had been, and he seemed to grow more handsome as time pasted. She could remember him at twenty-two, when he'd been her lover and had dropped to his knee and asked for her hand. He had been her everything then yet nothing in comparison to the man that now laid before her.
And yet that twenty-two year old man was everything the man beside her wasn't; he had loved her, he had held her and make love to her to show her his affections, and he had been a wonderful husband to her. The man beside her was cold, uncaring and a complete stranger to her. The last time he had touched her was when his father had demanded an heir for the Malfoy name. It was only then that he had held her and in those nights there was no affection, no love, yet she had been so pleased to have him she never noticed. She didn't know how or why or even when he had started to change but he did and she had been too blind to see it and by the time she did, it was too late.
Asteria dropped her hand and hid it beneath the quilts; she sighed and slowly turned over before moving slightly away from the middle on the mattress.
The man she had fallen in love with was gone and yet, not matter what he done, or in cases what he didn't, she still remained in love with him.
Asteria pulls the blankets over her shoulders and wraps herself tightly within its folds, only sighing in contentment when sleep begins to take her.
Draco does not stir once and she her last thoughts are of the floorboards in the living area and of the space between her and husbands sleeping forms that cannot be fixed with a simple charm.
....Dont hurt me...*hides*