The first time someone ever shouted at Astoria she was perplexed and even a bit surprised, never mind that said person was Draco Malfoy and he had every reason to shout at her.
Her chauffeur had crashed her family's flying car right into his black convertible after all and Draco looked enraged enough to hex her.
Yet Astoria didn't make a move to get out of his way.
Because the fact remained that at twenty-one Astoria Greengrass, also known as the honorable Lady Astoria Circe Greengrass Blythe heiress to the houses of Greengrass and Gobblefoot had never once been shouted at in all her life...not that she could remember at least.
People always treated her like nicely or in muggle cases, respectfully, even in her darkest days back when the Dark Lord had Slytherin under siege, never did someone raise their voice to her above what was necessary.
Astoria wasn't the kind of girl you shouted at, she was a well born lady, unlike her elder sister that liked to flaunt her blood purity and status, Astoria wore her noble upbringing with a dignified spirit, making it obvious to others that she was a girl one needed to treat with utmost politeness.
Daphne would surely have been outraged if someone started screaming profanities at her like that, Daphne would have shouted back, dosed him with cool Greengrass sarcasm and accused Draco of idiocy, behaving like an ice queen because as the eldest Greengrass she could get away with it, but then again Daphne wasn't there, Astoria sighed in her head, dear Daphne who had never been as good as Astoria in behaving like a lady, who wasn't nice and quiet and could never be meek, who kissed too many boys and gave their beloved father too many headaches, her idolized sister who'd done the unthinkable and renounced their family name after the war in favor of eloping with an American Mud..Muggleborn
"Nobody has ever been so crude to me" she whispered, astonished Astoria raised her head to look directly into Draco Malfoy's eyes, her cream straw hat and perfectly pinned curls making a smart contrast with her green dress "Did shouting at me make you feel better Lord Malfoy?" She asked with genuine amusement, it didn't bother her at all that he was angry, in fact she felt elated that he was showing open anger at her...nobody ever did.
Hearing her refer to him by his title brought Draco out of his angry tirade, finally deigning to notice the crest on the opposite car, Greengrass, of course, pity he didn't have patience for other purebloods that day "No, but hexing you would" He replied cursing some more "yes I wonder how you would react to a sectusempra from me" and instead of the outrage he expected he saw her delighted surprise at his coarse language.
He of course like other pureblood men knew of Astoria, the youngest and now sole, heiress to the Greengrass legacy (the Daily Prophet not long had published a front page article on Daphne's shameful elopement) and tough Draco never liked Daphne much even he knew how much she'd hated playing the role of Lady Greengrass.
But in the same way he never bothered about Daphne in Hogwarts other than a few bored glances, he never bothered for her family either, despite the fact Astoria had been in Slytherin, the Greengrass where all neutrals in wars and thus not death eater material.
"I'm afraid your satisfaction would be short-lived since I know very few defensive spells, and would hardly pose a challenge" Astoria didn't like confrontations so she didn't give him one
"But you graduated from Hogwarts, excuse me but that's a shitty excuse to justify being weak"
"Father believes that ladies shouldn't have to defend themselves when they have husbands and fathers to do it for them, so far I've never been in a place where I wasn't protected at all times it's just the way tradition is" with a flick of her wrist Astoria pointed to two other flying cars in the vicinity sporting the Greengrass crest
Astoria tried to ignore the twinge of remorse that hit her everytime the war was mentioned, nobody knew how every Slytherin in her year had vanished the moment the death eaters broke trough the wards in Hogwarts, or where they had been safely absconded untill the war was over.
Those that knew would die by wizard oath if they ever told.
But everyone still considered it a coincidence too funny to ignore, forty boys and girls of the Slytherin house, alive, untouched and unmarked by the Dark Lord, all of them having voluntarily chosen their own lives over joining the battle, over their families, even their friends...Astoria among them.
But like her father told her the minute he portkeyed all her friends to the Greengrass safe house in America, the guilt was a small price to pay for her life.
And Draco had to look at her again, trying desperately to remember why he had thought traditions where so great, he didn't know Astoria Greengrass, no, not really, in their world interacting with younger purebloods even on social occasions was considered a waste of time, but he felt he did with just a cursory glance, she had the bearings of a pureblood lady born and raised, probably sheltered by her father behind the fidelius charmed walls of their many estates, the kind of woman who had probably never sat on a broom after finishing first year flying lessons and went around town escorted by at least three bodyguards, a trapped little bird in a golden cage that let others fight her battles because she was too weak, he wouldn't be surprised if that's why she was put in Slytherin and not Ravenclaw.
She was beautiful too of course, in a pure unmarred way only someone untouched by war could be, perfectly put together, not a hair out of place, and then Draco noticed her fingernails, the only thing not perfect about her, because they where uneven and misshapen, bitten off dreadfully...
Which was why he decided he wanted to see her again...she was a nail biter, Astoria, and that was enough to prick his curiosity on Daphne's perfect ladylike sister.
"And do you often do what daddy tells you lady Astoria?" He sneered
"When it keeps me from harm, yes, I suppose I do" her smile was a bit too practiced, it made Draco want to shake her, break the illusion Astoria seemed to live in because he couldn't stand seeing someone like her, she reminded him of how impersonal pureblood people where, how he used to be.
So he let her go, slipping a small note in her hand, when her chauffeur wasn't looking, smirking at his genius, not wondering why he picked her, all he knew was that he wanted to break someone, he wanted to shatter someone's world, destroy her faith in pureblood society like Voldemort destroyed his, maybe he just wanted to hurt her for being happy in her pretty cage, for escaping the bloodshed, or maybe he wanted to be there when she realized how awful and terrifying the real world was
Astoria's chauffeur started the car again and Malfoy saw her readjust her hat and hair with a flick of her wand before directing the man to the Greengrass Estate, smiling at Draco for one last time before elevating her window and being carried away, he briefly wondered if she had done things like this all her life, wearing the right clothes, smiling in right times and saying the right things to please her father, it's a wonder Daphne couldn't cope, Draco mused to himself, trying to imagine Pansy's outspoken and haughty second in command enduring the life of restrictions that Astoria seems to accept so easily. She briefly reminded him of how his mother must have been in her early twenties (only briefly, because despite her apparent passivity Draco's mother was still a Black and possessed a very bad temper under her patient face) nevertheless he didn't try to chase the thought any further, instead he turned his back to the road and got back into his car...
Astoria on the other hand was on her way back to the Greengrass Estate, trying to forget the piece of enchanted parchment Draco had put in her hand
Friendly offer Porcelain, If you ever want to learn a real defensive spell or two, I like to practice mine south of Malfoy Park, in Merlin's woods-D.M
A brief flash of annoyance shot trough her at his Porcelain doll implication before being replaced by curiosity, trying to ignore how amused she felt and how much she wished to reply nevertheless two hours later as she was getting ready to dine with her father, she still sat infront of her dresser with the note in her hand knowing it was futile "Oh you win Lord Malfoy" she said to the note "But just so you know I am not happy about it" and proceeded to write a reply on the back of it.
Then, summoning her most loyal house elf Astoria bid it to make sure the parchment found its way to Draco Malfoy's bedroom "See, he is not the only one that can be a clever" She said to the mirror on her dresser feeling quite foolish for talking to herself before going down to dinner like the billable daughter she was.
That night Draco came home to find a very peculiar piece of parchment lying right in the middle of his bed. The reply?
I'll be there tomorrow-A.G
Draco didn't know how the note had gotten past the wards and owl repelling charms on the windows, which brought a brief smirk to his face, hmm perhaps, just perhaps, Astoria Greengrass wasn't the weak little simpleton he thought she was.
That was how it began at first, a simple foray into the unknown. Draco wanting to hurt someone and Astoria wanting to prove something, by the end of that first meeting, he succeeded in making her cry, yet for some reason...she came back the next day
Astoria knew that she had been born with the face of an angel, as a child conceived with the aid of unicorn fertility magic, she'd been born with a rare inability to feel hatred, and as a result of both she has always lived in a world where people protect her, from childhood to adulthood Astoria has both known and used the fact she came off as Daphne's fragile baby sister to her advantage, overplaying her weaknesses in order to manipulate others into fighting her battles
And the first time she tried it on Draco, he didn't even flinch, just called her a baby, a midget weaker than a mudblood before proceeding to attack her again
She had never had to fight for anything or confront anyone in her life, if ever she got in trouble there was always someone nearby that immediately took the brunt of the blow and pushed her behind to look for cover, because she was Lord Greengrass's younger daughter.
Everyone around her had always treated her like she was made of glass, especially during the war...all exept Draco
Which was why every day at sundown, she took a portkey to Merlin's woods leaving her bodyguards behind in order to meet with an ex death eater.
Because Draco wasn't a phony pureblood man trying to woo her for a chance at the Greengrass fortune, or a rake pretending to be a gentleman, not even a rogue trying to seduce her, no, Draco was a just a fire-breathing dragon, one that for once in her life doesn't treat her with kid gloves...
And for once Astoria wanted to pretend she wasn't a pureblood lady but a normal girl.
Draco for his part couldn't help finding her a bit less annoying as the days went by, he would never admit it but Astoria Greengrass was growing on him for reasons other than her gradual improvement in defensive spells.
He couldn't explain it, but sometimes she did things that just made him want to laugh. Especially because she had a girly obsession with keeping herself clean, she hated dirt and rain and mud, slime and tree sap too, the list went on to frogs, lizzards, and "any animal that slobbered", but instead of being annoying with her collection of emergency cleaning spells and constant displays of female squeamishness, her little quirk made it easier for him to ruffle her feathers, so he made a point of spelling at least one of those things at her each time she failed in defending herself from him.
Seeing solemn and proper Astoria run around shrieking over a shower of harmless dirt always made his day.
Draco had met girls in his lifetime, shagged and broken girls too, but none as funny as Astoria, or at least that's what he told himself he considered her...funny..not pretty or cunning...just funny
She wasn't a deceptive snake like Pansy, a flirt like Daphne or particularly brave and outspoken like Granger, in fact Draco realized, that Astoria possessed personality traits that where not really celebrated in their new and improved wizarding society, she was soft spoken, even-tempered and docile, qualities that any self-respecting witch in their world tried to avoid having after the war
But as he continued teaching her to hex things, Draco realized that for someone so submissive she was also incredibly resilient and resourceful, Astoria was the kind of woman who might let someone strike her with a hex in a one on one fight, but would make sure her foe's food got mysteriously poisoned later. (As he had the misfortune of finding out after a certain incident where he took dunking her in lizard spit a bit to far)
She was funny Astoria Greengrass, just funny, so he tried to ignore the tiny sting of caring that might be worming itself in his insides
Astoria thought he was more a wounded animal than a wizard.
He had a habit of grumbling and sneering, trying to scare her on days he wanted to be alone, breathing poison and spewing acid like a self-destructive cauldron, searching for the words to make her hurt the most so that her obvious fragility might give in, instead all he ever managed to do was fascinate her.
She never pushed too much on those days, but they where the days they talked a bit more...usually about family, the one thing they had in common, pureblooded families...the Malfoy line went back just as far as the Greengrass one and it helped him, to do that, just talk with her, like strangers that didn't know each other at all, never mind that Astoria probably knew the Malfoy ancestry as well as he knew the Greengrass, she never complained, and Draco got the impression that on those days she operated under the pretense that he didn't have a death eater past.
Some days she wanted to kick herself, Its was masochistic how much Astoria thrived on his verbal jabs, twisting them around so she could turn the tables on him, nobody had ever treated her badly before, and Astoria Greengrass liked the realization that came with hearing Draco Malfoy threaten to hex her into oblivion, the realization that she might be less fragile than she'd been led to believe, because if she could hold her own against Harry Potter's Hogwarts nemesis, then that meant she was stronger than she thought herself to be.
So Astoria came back like a hero against a dragon, time after time, trying to measure her strength, to prove to herself that she was more than a sheltered little lady, more than manners and formal dining, she comes back to Merlin's woods because Draco didn't ever try to coddle her, or makes any promises of protection, because he tried so hard to prove her love for property was ridiculous while teaching her how to duel "like a man" that it gave her a measure of strength
This is what Astoria "little lady" Greengrass liked the most, that Draco didn't try to protect her against the world's evils like everyone else, instead he taught her how to protect herself, he never bid her to eat, or stay in the shade or get out of the rain, in fact, it seemed to Astoria that the worse for wear he could make "little lady Greengrass" look, the happier he was.
"You don't have to be hurt and angry all the time you know Draco" She told him once, on those rare evenings they spent talking "Yeah your past is terrible, but It's okay to be happy, maybe you should try it now that the dark Lord is gone"
He was silent for a long time staring into the sky, before looking at her as tough she'd just given him back something he lost "Maybe I will" Draco replied "Maybe I will"
And for those few hours in Merlin's woods, Draco and Astoria secretly shared a glimmer of freedom.