Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

An Arranged State

By Lilyfox

Part One

Astoria's POV

Chapter One

It was the summer after I had turned twenty, and I sat on a stone bench hidden away in the Rosier's tea garden on their summer estate in the Lake District. Juno Rosier, an old classmate of mine from Hogwarts, was celebrating her upcoming nuptials with Len Urquhart, and after having gone through the motions of greetings and congratulations, I had slipped away to find myself a secluded bench.

I wasn't usually so antisocial, although I would never approach the extent of my sister's gregarious nature. But I had just received that morning, by owl, a book that I had been giddily waiting to receive over the past two months. It was a rare forgotten book written by one of the leading magical theorists of his time, Gustave Hess. I believed Hess' forgotten book would play an essential role in my upcoming research regarding the creation of new healing spells and I was impatient to delve in.

Hearing the crunching sound of footsteps along the graveled path, I looked up from the book and spotted the matriarch of the House of Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy exuded regality and held herself with an august pride which most certainly came from her upbringing as a Black. Very few of the modern-day pure-blooded women still radiated the classic aristocracy that had marked our ancestors, but Narcissa Malfoy was a textbook example of how a pure-blooded woman should be.

I turned back to my book once I realized that it wasn't my mother or sister, looking to drag me back to the party. The Malfoy matriarch continued walking down the path, paying me very little heed until she passed by me. As she minutely glanced in my direction, she came to a stop in the middle of the path.

Noticing the lack of footsteps I glanced back up to find Narcissa Malfoy analyzing me with an unreadable expression gracing her face. Nervously, I tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair that had fallen out of my messy bun behind my ear and worried my lower lip.

"You're the youngest Greengrass girl, right? Daphne's sister?" She asked nonchalantly once she noticed that she had my attention.

"Yes…" I hesitantly answered back, "I'm Astoria Greengrass."

"Oh that's right; I had forgotten your name."

I expected her to continue on her way back towards the party, but instead she continued standing there, measuring me up with a look.

"I think I remember your mother telling me that you started working after graduating from Hogwarts." Considering that Narcissa Malfoy was a bastion of traditional pure-blood society, I expected to hear a note of disdain in her voice. However, much to my amazement, her comment was devoid of any underlying accusations.

I nodded my head, "Yes I work for the Department for the Advancement of Magic at the Ministry."

"You create spells?" I nodded again in agreement, "Interesting…" She said, although she didn't seem really all that interested. She'd spoken the word with an airy tone. "And how old are you? Doesn't it take extra schooling after Hogwarts to become a spell researcher?"

At this point I was legitimately shocked that Narcissa Malfoy was still talking to me. In the past my only interaction with the matriarch had been greeting her politely at parties when I made the rounds with my mother and sister. It was quite obvious by her lack of knowledge of even my name that she apparently hadn't paid me much attention during my lifetime.

"I'm twenty-years-old. And yes I took the two years of training required after graduating from Hogwarts."

"So you are four years younger than your sister?"

"Yes."

"Interesting…" She said once again in that same airy tone of voice. And without another word she turned around and continued walking towards the party, almost as if our exchange had never happened.

I turned back to my book, but I was unable to shake off the uneasy feeling that my encounter with the Malfoy matriarch had stirred up within me. Deciding it was a hopeless cause to regain my focus; I gingerly placed the book back into my purse and rejoined the festivities.

—

A week later I returned to the Greengrass family estate for our weekly family dinner, which was traditionally held every Sunday. Ever since moving out of the manor after I graduated from Hogwarts, my parents had mandated that at least once a week the entire family take the time to have a family dinner together.

When I apparated into the entrance hall I was shocked to hear voices drifting in from the parlor room. We never used the parlor room unless we had guests over who we were trying to impress. Glancing down at my casual attire, I suddenly had a gnawing feeling that I was about to garner the wrath of my mother.

However my curiosity won out in the end and instead of apparating back to my flat or going upstairs to dig through my old closest for something suitable to wear, I confidently walked into the parlor room to discover who my parents had allowed to crash their ever-important family dinners which they held sacrosanct.

When I walked into the room I near couldn't believe my eyes because there sat Narcissa Malfoy surrounded by my family. "Good evening," I cautiously told the room. In response I got scattered replies. My sister looked humored as she took in my casual outfit of jeans and a rather simple graphic tee-shirt. My father on the other hand looked rather apathetic to the whole situation. My father had always been rather deadpanned about most things in life, which was rather refreshing compared to my mother who felt it was her duty to micromanage everything. And speaking of my mother at this specific moment in my life she was giving me a livid stare. She quickly masked her emotions and turned to the serene Narcissa Malfoy who seemed rather unbothered by my casual appearance.

"Will you please excuse me Narcissa, I need to have a quick chat with my daughter." My mother politely inquired. In response Narcissa gave a minute nod of her head and turned to continue a conversation with my older sister. My mother walked out of the room towards the kitchen and I silently followed.

We reached the kitchen that was a safe distance from the parlor room, so that we couldn't be overheard. "Astoria," my mother said, almost in anguish. "Why do you do this to me? I ask you for one thing and you can't even follow through."

I shrugged, "You didn't ask me to do anything."

"Don't give me that cheek Astoria. I sent you a letter specifically this morning to let you know that Narcissa was coming over and I asked you to dress appropriately."

"I never got your owl." I said rather unaffected, "I left this morning to take care of some things at the lab and I just came straight from there. The owl must still be waiting at my flat for me."

My mother let out a deep sigh, "That's what I get for using your sister's idiot of a bird. I told her the day she bought it that it looked rather dumb but no she said it looked adorable and it didn't matter if it wasn't smart. Go upstairs and change. You still have some old dresses from when you lived here. They'll be out of season of course but what can one do? An out of season dress is better than those horrid jeans you always wear."

"Fine, fine I'm going." I muttered in return as I walked out of the kitchen and towards my old room.

I walked up the stairs, allowing the old memories from when I lived in the old Greengrass Manor to flow back to me. My room hadn't changed since I had moved out. It seemed as if the only people who had entered my room nowadays were the house elves who continually cleaned it. The room felt frozen in the past with my old pictures hanging on the wall. I opened up the closest and quickly grabbed a casual dress. I slipped out of my clothes and then threw the dress on. Facing the mirror which was opposite to the entrance of my room I began trying to zip up the back of my dress. However I seemed unable to zip it all the way up one-handedly.

"Having problems?" I swore at the unexpected male voice and frantically turned around to find Draco Malfoy leaning against my doorframe.

I hadn't seen the Malfoy heir in a couple of months and was shocked at his presence in my childhood room. Draco Malfoy was still as handsome as I remembered him, with his platinum blond hair and chiseled features. However I had never had any real interaction with him since I was four years his junior and he had never paid any attention to me at Hogwarts.

He was leaning all nonchalantly and debonair-like, at least that's what he probably thought, against my doorframe. His arms were crossed and his usual cocky smirk was gracing his face.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" I asked slightly annoyed. I was pissed that he had the audacity to sneak up upon me while I was getting dressed in the privacy of my own room. "Don't you know the concept of privacy?"

He shrugged, "If you expect privacy then don't leave your door open."

I rolled my eyes, "You're not supposed to be sneaking around the upstairs of my home like a sodding… snake or something."

"Language Astoria." I threw him a death glare in response.

"You didn't answer my question, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for the loo?" He replied sarcastically.

"I meant why you are in my house?"

"I thought you didn't live here anymore. If you don't live here anymore then it can't be your house. It'd be your parents' house."

"You are an insufferable prat who can't seem to answer a question. Or are you just too dense?"

"Well I guess I'm about to become your insufferable prat then. You must be overjoyed."

I gave him a blank look, not understanding what he meant, "What the fuck are you talking about Malfoy?"

"You haven't figured it out? My mother has been scheming; she's planning on arranging a marriage for me."

A wave of relief hit me and I laughed, "You and Daphne? That's so rich." I gave him a saccharine smile, "You two will make the sweetest couple in the world but be careful she snores at night."

Draco's smirk grew wider as realization dawned on his face. "You misunderstand dearest. My mother plans to marry me off to you, not Daphne." I froze as his words sunk in, "Here let me help you with that zipper." And he walked around my frozen form and quickly zipped up the back of my dress. "There you go love." He said sardonically as he walked out of my room.

The only thought that kept repeating itself, like a mantra, inside my mind was; Oh fuck.

A/N: A new story! This is rather shocking, even to myself, considering I swore I'd never have two stories going on at the same time, but well what can one do when you're struck by inspiration that you think is too good to let go? Yay for Astoria x Draco! It's going to be really interesting because this is a more modern setting than my Andromeda x Ted story which takes place in the 60s. I won't have to worry whether or not the characters are acting out of character because it was in a different era with this story yay! Anyway thank you everyone who read this and please review. I appreciate compliments (appreciate is too weak a word lol) and constructive criticism or even a random comment or two.

1/30/15 A/N: Hello everyone! I've decided to revisit this story after a 2.5 year hiatus. I'm going through and cleaning up my writing in the meantime before I start writing some new chapters. This chapter has been re-edited.