A/N: First order of business is the fact that they have changed the name on the search to 'Asteria'. This is the point where I take artistic license to change back and forth still. It is my choice depending on the character that I build. There. Also, I've been writing this for a while and just decided to post it after MatildaBlack asked me about a quote. I hope that everyone likes it. This is one of my favorites of my Astoria/Draco oneshots.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR.

Cry Wolf

My initial suspicions were proven when he walked through those doors for the third time. On completely normal circumstances, a third trip to Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries would not be suspect. But the third in the span of a month?

As a Healer, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I helped him over to a bed, settling him on the edge while rummaging through the drawer beside the single. Almost out of habit, I placed the hospital gown on the white sheets, just beside his hand. He raised an eyebrow as I waved my wand wordlessly in front of him.

"You are running a slight fever. Are you having any other symptoms?"

"I told you it was a simple rash due to my potion receiving a mind of its own." It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. It sounded as if he didn't want to take responsibility for his own mistakes. No surprise there. It certainly didn't deter me from my job.

Every time he set foot in our humble hospital, he claimed it was through another's fault.

"It is required that I ask these questions." I supplied, taking hold of his legs and swinging them up onto the gurney. His eyes widened at my action before he smirked. "Are you having any other symptoms?"

"My arm is tingling."

"That'll be the rash." I took hold of my small clipboard and scrawled a quick note, only legible to my eyes. "What were you attempting to make again?"

"Draught of Peace." He answered, resting his head back against the pillow. Yes, the Draught of Peace was sometimes known to cause rashes should the potioneer add too much shredded willow bark. Depending on if he had already added the daisy roots, he would have quite the night ahead of him. "Did you already mix in the daisy roots?"

"Of course."

Even though he didn't seem very sick now, he would become worse rather quickly. Slowly, I began to walk toward the door. I nodded toward one of the healers-in-training. "Miss Hall will help you get comfortable. You are to remain here for two days, sir. Antidotes will be given every three hours to help the pain."

I began to shut the door, noticing the smirk that spread on Malfoy's face as Healer Hall started toward him.

That was when I started to suspect something. The first two times he had come through the entrance, he had been in worse shape. The first, he had been dueling with Theodore Nott when Nott got the upper-hand, hitting him with some unknown curse. The second had been a case of mandrake pox though how he had gotten such a disease was beyond my imagining.

I tried to keep my mind off of it, him, but I found it impossible. The improbabilities kept running though my thoughts. Draco Malfoy had always been one of the best in Potions. He had always been very skilled with the exact measurements. Over time, it would seem that he had gotten worse rather than better.

While that was an amusing idea, it was not plausible.

No, Draco Malfoy was a Potions Master. There was no possible way for him to mess up such an easy draught.

Then again, even Potion Masters were allowed their mistakes.

Sighing, I leaned my head onto my hand. It made no sense. If I had any sense in me, I would have thought Draco Malfoy was faking. That, too, didn't make any sense. Whenever he set foot in the hospital, his complaining would begin louder and more critical than usual. The lights were too bright, the floors were too dirty, and the sheets were too itchy…To compile his criticism together: he hated Saint Mungo's.

"I don't understand it." I muttered, shaking my head as I scrawled a few notes for another patient who looked up at me expectantly. "You're making wonderful improvements, Mister Jones. I must say that I'm impressed."

"I would be more impressed if I could take you out to dinner after all of this." He smiled from the bed. I laughed in amusement. "Ah, you're laughing at me again."

"That's the fifth time this week, Jones."

"Once for every day you grace me with your presence, Healer Greengrass."

Oh, he was just too much. "Are you sure that smooth talking isn't your ailment?"

"Only if it isn't working."

"It isn't." I replied, shaking my head. I slid his clipboard into the slot at the end of his bed. "You have two more days left, Mister Jones." I started to walk out before I stopped by the door. "Oh, and if I were you, I would talk to Healer Williams. She was speaking very highly of you at lunch." Right, so that was a lie, but he certainly didn't know that. "Don't mention it to her though. She's very shy." I gave him a small wink before stepping into the hallway.

"Astoria, Mister Malfoy in Room Three is asking for you again."

I rolled my eyes and forced a smile. "What do you think it is this time? He needs a new pillow? That pillow must be too hard."

Healer-in-Charge Mathers gave me a curt nod showing her irritation on the subject. "Most likely something to that effect. Just give him what he wants. He will be going home tomorrow regardless." I grimaced and stifled the thought that he would be returning in a few weeks time.

Making my way down the hall, I smiled at a few children who had come to visit their ailing mother, an elderly couple who had come in stuck together. Every single person I passed seemed to have a larger problem than the man that I was walking to see.

"Mister Malfoy, how are you feeling now?"

"Bloody good, I must say, though this blasted bed is simply ridiculous. How do you expect people to sleep on these dreadful things?"

I sighed and shrugged. I had known this was coming. "Our funding is not enough to buy enough supplies, much less better mattresses, Mister Malfoy. Is there an actual problem or are you going to complain?"

He gave me a slightly indignant look before relaxing back into the bed again. "You're too easy to irritate."

I heaved a breath and attempted to count to ten before responding. "This is my place of work, Mister Malfoy. Contrary to your obvious opinion, I am not here for your entertainment. I have more important things to do than listen to you whine."

He sat up straight at that as I grinned into my clipboard where he couldn't see. Push the correct buttons, you could get any reaction you want. "Whine? Whine? These are real concerns!"

"Not once since you stepped foot in this hospital have you complained about anything regarding your illness." I readied myself for the argument. "I suppose you thought that you could get it past everyone. Three mishaps in a month lead me to three conclusions. You are a complete klutz. I know this to be wrong since you have the Malfoy elegance with everything save your mouth." His jaw dropped as I moved around the bed to check the medication I had prescribed. "You could be hiding attacks against your person. I highly doubt this as well for there would be more dead bodies reported should that happen. My guess is that you would kill anyone who would dare come after your life." He continued to stare at me as if flabbergasted. Finally, I lowered my clipboard and smiled. "These possibilities rendered implausible, I am left to assume that you are causing your own injuries to come here."

Complete shock was evident in his expression and I had to admit, it was an adorable look for him. His jaw was slack and his eyes were wide.

"Though I must say that I don't see the reasoning." I went across from his bed and leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my robes. "You surely are not looking for the free meals or the warm bed, however uncomfortable it may be…"

He cleared his throat and folded his arms behind his head as he leaned back onto the pillows once again. "No, those aren't the reasons."

"You don't strike me as a junkie. The medications that I arranged do not have any hallucinogenic properties."

He raised a brow and grinned. "I'm mildly surprised that possibility even came to your mind."

His smirk as I had closed the door that first day flashed in my mind and I grinned. "Is it possible that you fancy Healer Hall?"

"Hall? Are you out of your bloody mind? Why would I waste my time for that short little squib?" I leveled a disbelieving stare in his direction to which he shrugged. "I prefer my women taller, more talented, and with less acne." I couldn't help but bristle at his insults. Jessica Hall was a sweet woman.

"Come off it, Malfoy, and tell me why you're wasting my time."

"Perhaps I came to see you?"

I snorted, shaking my head. "And I'm the Minister of Magic."

He frowned at my obvious rebuff. "Ah, this is like one of those fables." I raised a brow. "Those Muggle fables…the man who cried wolf."

"I believe it was a boy who cried wolf."

"I am hardly a boy therefore, for the sake of consistency and metaphor, he was a man." I rolled my eyes and pushed myself off the wall. I had rounds to continue. I truly didn't have time for this. "I have lied so many times that when I tell the truth, you won't believe me."

I paused, turning to face him.

"So you come here to see me?"

"You wouldn't give me the time of day when I came the first time with Nott. I was a patient, an invalid in your eyes. Two weeks later, I gave myself mandrake pox as an excuse to see you again. I asked you to lunch and told you that you were interesting. You played it off as the medication talking. No, that was me. I was fully aware of my actions. I was completely lucid. I snuck a potion to counteract the effects of the healing potion."

I stared at him in open shock. He couldn't possibly be serious. There was no reason for him to show any interest in me. I was not beautiful nor was I remarkably talented. I certainly wasn't 'interesting'. I just knew my job. That was it.

Hiding behind my humor and wit, I just laughed him off. "I think you just have a flavor for nurses."

"A flavor?" He looked incredulous. "You think I simply fancy nurses?"

"I think you like someone who takes care of you twenty-four seven, has to listen to you complain, and will be at your beck and call. If you are honestly interested in me, you would know that I am not that kind of woman."

He seemed to be measuring his response before he set his features in a neutral mask and leaned up to sit with his back straight. His legs folded into a weaving pattern, Turkish style. "I know perfectly well what kind of woman you are." I started to open my mouth but found that he raised his hand with a quelling expression. "Before you assume I'm a stalker, I would like you to know that I know perfectly well who you are. You're Astoria Greengrass—"

"You can get that much from my nameplate."

He raised an eyebrow and smiled broadly. A real smile, not a grin or smirk. No, it was a beautiful true smile. "If you would let me finish…" I shrugged, giving up. While dealing with Malfoy, the other Healers had to know that I was unavailable. "You were two years behind me. You went with Carlson to the Yule Ball. You wore a silver dress that evening and danced beside Pansy and I."

How in the world could he know all of that?

"You seem to be shocked into silence therefore I will take the opportunity to wow you some more." He cockily relished, motioning that there was a seat beside his bed should I become to dizzy with realization. "In my seventh year, you got into a rather loud row with your sister and Pansy regarding your stance on the war. You had a nasty habit of falling asleep by the lake that year, too."

I was completely shocked. Unable to move or to speak. That was all well and good for he did both for me.

His arms crossed over his chest as he looked me up and down. "I forgot about you until I met you nearly three weeks ago. Since then, well…"

"You must be joking." I reasoned.

"Like I said 'the man who cried wolf'. You don't believe me."

"As wonderful as all that sounds, Mister Malfoy, I find it hard to consider that you would even know who I am, much less fancy me."

"You are a bloody hard woman to please."

"Well, you are confessing that you 'fancy me' after stating that you caused your own ailments just to see me…That doesn't sound reasonable, nor does it make any common sense. You're Draco Malfoy. Why would you stoop to a fake an illness to enter a hospital… to see a woman?"

"To see you. Think about it for a moment, would you? You're smart, Greengrass. You can figure this out. You too standoffish should I try outside of this hospital. For years I have tried to gain your attention. I would sit beside you at dinner parties. I would stand in a hallway far from my own classroom to walk you to class but you ignored that I even stood there. I would scare off any guy that got near you in school. You never gave me a second glance." I was staring again. He had done all of those things, but I had never thought it more than a platonic interest. I was the daughter of a wealthy and well known pureblood line. It only made sense to treat me with respect. "That is not to mention that wedding we attended for Zabini. Don't even get me started on that bloody fiasco."

My mind jumped to that memory. I had a date: Micheal Corner. Malfoy had been glaring the entire time as he sat with Pansy at a table watching the two of them dance. A few moments after I had noticed his expression, Micheal was on the floor complaining that he had slipped.

"You remember that."

"You tripped him."

Draco shrugged, smirking. "So? Now, Greengrass, do you believe me?"

"Oh I believe you." I acquiesced, shaking my head in amazement. Surely he didn't think I would fall for him after that. "I believe you are out of your bloody mind. If you don't mind, I have a job to do." I spun on my heel and started for the door once more.

"I'm not crying wolf!" He said from his bed as I swung the door open. "I am telling the truth."

"In this case, it doesn't matter to me if there really is a wolf, Malfoy. I am not interested." With that, I stepped into the hall and didn't look back.

It was too bad I didn't really have to.

"I fancy Astoria Greengrass!" The shout came echoing through my ears. I stopped dead in my tracks, my breath caught. "I bloody fancy Astoria bloody Greengrass! So help me if she doesn't believe me now…"

People were starting to stare. Some poked their heads out of their rooms to see what the commotion was about. I, however, could not move. He was out of his bleedin' mind! I heaved in as much air as I could to remain standing, but remained very still.

His voice continued to rail through the otherwise now-silent halls of the ward. "I will bother her until she gives me the time of day! I won't take no for an answer! I—"

I hadn't realized that I had turned around and flung his door open only to slam it shut again once I was inside. "What the bloody he—"

"You're much more pliable when I make a scene. Something I need to remember." He smirked, shaking his head. "Still worried about appearances."

"No, but you will be when I am done with you." Oh the things I could do to that pointed face with a good curse and some muggle knives...

"I accept the offer, Miss Greengrass. Let's make it a date!" He laughed jovially before fixing me with a smoldering and calculating stare that didn't seem to fit his smiling demeanor. He chuckled slightly as his gaze slipped over my body, making me slightly unnerved. Men, honestly. I noticed that he was taking in the way the nurse uniform clung around my too large hips. "You should prepare yourself, Greengrass. I am the type of man to make your dreams come true." If that didn't make me want to tear out my hair...

"Dreams? Dreams? Draco, you're a ruddy nightmare!"

A/N: Yay open ending! I really didn't feel like there was anything else to say. It seemed right to end on that note. Please leave me some feedback. Tell me what you think of my favorite oneshot thus far. All the best.