I don't remember quite where I originally heard that my little sister was dating Draco Malfoy, because it was such a ridiculous idea that I immediately dismissed it. The first time I really processed it was when it was mentioned as an aside in a broader conversation in the Emerald Lair Brew Pub about how much Draco Malfoy sucked these days, with a hurried apology to me for the insult to my family.

I hadn't spoken to my sister in years, in part because my brother threatened to curse me if I did. I'd taken the chance once, and she'd run away from home to live in his basement. They'd been on the wrong side in the Battle of Hogwarts, anyway. Their side had won, mind you, but they didn't really have any business in the fight in the first place. I certainly hadn't been.

So all in all, there wasn't a lot of love lost between me and my siblings, so I'd dismissed the apology as entirely unnecessary.

It was only after my fiancé came home laughing about it that I'd started seriously considering that it might be true. I was still curious when I happened to run into my brother on a lift when I was applying for my marriage certificate at the Ministry a few weeks later.

Our relationship hasn't ever really recovered from his threatening to curse me and/or throw me in Azkaban, but these days, we managed to be at least vaguely cordial when our paths crossed, so my curiosity overwhelmed the cautious side I usually held in utmost esteem.

"Is it true?" I asked him when the lift doors closed and we were alone.

His expression was stony. Today was apparently a very vaguely cordial day. "You'll need to be more specific."

"About Astoria and Draco Malfoy."

To my surprise, that got a genuine smile out of him. There was a small knot in me that loosened, from the part of me that had always wanted my stupid blood traitor brother's approval. "Yeah," he said. "It's true."

"Like, all of it?"

"All of it," he confirmed.

"Like, they're actually dating?" I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"They're actually dating." His smile was broader than I'd seen it in years, and I felt a stab of jealousy that he found Astoria's love life so amusing but probably had no idea who I was about to marry.

"What happened to him being a Death Eater's brat?" I asked. That had been Brendon's reaction when I'd had a crush on Draco in school, before the war. I immediately regretted it; the smile slid off his face.

"He's a better person that he used to be," Brendon said coldly. "You could learn from him."

"Theo says he's got about two friends who don't want to kill him," I snapped. "I'll pass."

What did my stupid blood traitor brother know, anyway?

A/N: If you enjoyed this, please check out my other Drastoria fics (including a longer version of this from Astoria's PoV called "The Way You Say My Name"), which are prequels and probably eventually sequels to this - I've been doing a lot of Drastoria for NaNo. They're somewhere on this page, or you can find them in an organized series at the HPFanficTalk archive under the series (Sidenote: Greengrass stories) under the the same author name. :)

Reviews and favorites are appreciated!

- Branwen