I apologize for my long hiatus, though I'm here to finish the story. This chapter is Draco's POV. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Draco was tired.

Throughout that day, Draco had been working on finishing the Vanishing Cabinet. He had gotten up early to begin, and he skipped breakfast when there was no sign of any progress. To top it off, he had been late to his first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Afterwards, Draco had rushed through lunch and skipped Transfiguration to continue working. Draco had barely made any progress, and stayed up until 11 o'clock until deciding to go to bed.

Draco checked his watch. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. Draco groaned. He would need to wake up early again to make more progress. Draco didn't want to do this, but he didn't want to disappoint his mother or father-they were depending on him. If Draco didn't do this, they would never get back in the Dark Lord's favor.

Draco closed his eyes, but quickly opened them again when he heard a shuffling sound coming from the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blonde hair, and Draco tensed until the face turned, and he recognized Astoria Greengrass.

Astoria's eyes swept across the room and glanced at him. She hesitated before turning away.

Draco frowned. Was she scared of him? He observed her. She was Daphne's sister, and Daphne wasn't so bad. Maybe she would be good company. Draco cleared his throat. "You can stay."

Draco watched as Astoria paused and turned around. "I beg your pardon?" she whispered. "Speak up, please. I didn't hear you."

Draco cleared his throat again. "I said you can stay."

Astoria surveyed hi, before she crossed the room and sat in the armchair across from him. Draco stayed silent, having suddenly grown nervous. What was he thinking, inviting her to stay? Trying to avoid eye contact, Draco looked at the green fire.

"Are you okay?"

Draco felt Astoria's eyes on him, and he tensed, ignoring the urge to look at her. Holding in his surprise she wanted to have a conversation, Draco answered, "I'm fine, Greengrass."

Astoria didn't reply, and Draco inwardly cringed at the obvious lie. If he was okay, he wouldn't be up so early, and he wouldn't look like a complete mess, either.

Draco turned to look at her, and saw, with mild surprise, Astoria staring at his hair. Draco hid a smirk. He knew it looked atrocious. "Alright, Greengrass?"

Astoria, her eyes quickly darting to his face, blushed. "I'm fine, Malfoy."

Draco allowed himself a small smile. "Lovely." Carefully, Draco observed her face. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"A while since what?"

Draco shifted, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Didn't she remember their last conversation? He definitely did; just thinking about it made him mildly embarrassed. Not wanting to see the expression on her face when he reminded her, Draco looked at the fire. "Since we've last spoken. The last time I talked to you, you were yelling at me for a hex I performed. I apologize for that, by the way."

"I forgive you," said Astoria. "My hair only stayed purple for a week, anyway."

Draco was stunned. She forgave him? Draco narrowed his eyes. He had done nothing to deserve her forgiveness. He had done nothing to deserve any forgiveness. He was terrible to her. He was terrible to everyone. Currently, Draco was working on a way to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts. He had the Dark Mark. Draco grit his teeth. How could she forgive him?

"Don't." said Draco. He turned to look at her. Astoria met his gaze, confused. Draco swallowed. "Don't."

"Don't what?" Astoria said.

Draco felt his frown deepen, and he clenched his fists. "Don't thank me, please. It will save you a lot of trouble."

Astoria was defiant. "I can if I want to." Draco kept his face emotionless as she continued. "That was a year ago."

"A lot can happen in a year." Draco hoped he didn't sound too bitter. "You'll regret giving me your forgiveness." Draco had his eyes locked with Astoria's. "Just give it a week." Draco laughed harshly. "Or maybe a day, you never know. I always mess up somehow."

Draco stopped. He didn't mean to say that much. The more he spoke, the more Astoria was probably going to question him. He shouldn't have said anything.

Draco was jerked out of his thoughts as Astoria reached over and put a hand on Draco's arm. His left arm. Draco twitched, and Astoria jerked her arm back. Draco watched as Astoria observed her slightly burnt hand. Draco bit his lip. The Dark Mark burned him sometimes, too.

"Please don't touch me," said Draco. Not wanting to see her reaction, Draco turned away.

"Malfoy-"

Draco inwardly cringed. Ever since his father went to Azkaban, he hated it when people called him that. "Call me Draco."

Astoria paused. "Okay."

Draco frowned, frustrated. He knew, to Astoria, his behavior was odd. He couldn't tell her anything about it, though, because then he would need to explain being a Death Eater, and the situation with his family…

Draco, sighing, turned to Astoria. He should, at the very least, say sorry for the way he was acting. "My apologies," said Draco, "but I'd really prefer if you-I hope you don't mind me repeating myself-don't."

"Don't what?"

Draco resisted the urge to turn away. "Both. Don't touch me, and don't call me Malfoy." Draco looked at a spot past Astoria's shoulder. He didn't want to see her confused looks of sympathy anymore. She didn't know what he was going through. How could she? No one disliked the Greengrass family. Draco paused as he noticed Astoria's gaze was still trained on him. "I'm sure you're going to ask me why."

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Astoria give off a slight blush. "I'm not really that predictable, am I?"

"Yes, you are," Draco said shorty, "and I'm not going to tell you why."

"Why not?" said Astoria. Draco raised his eyebrow, amused. "…Sorry."

"You wouldn't understand," Draco murmured, too soft for Astoria to hear him. Draco turned his gaze back to the fire. Why had he asked her to stay? If he hadn't, he wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. You would still be lonely and brooding, a voice nagged. Draco sighed. It was true, if Astoria wasn't here-

Draco jerked as he felt the spot on the loveseat next to him sag. Quickly, he pulled his wand out of the sleeve of his shirt, but relaxed when he realized it was Astoria. Hastily, he stowed his wand away. "What," Draco hissed, "in the name of Salazar Slytherin, do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to help you," said Astoria. Draco grit his teeth. He didn't need any help. "Don't worry," Astoria added, "I won't hurt you."

Draco eyed her cautiously. "It doesn't matter." He turned back to the fire. "Do whatever you want. Everyone else does."

"Look at me, Draco. Look at me."

Slowly, Draco turned his head. Glaring at Astoria he said, "There, are you happy now?"

"No." Draco sighed. "Listen, Draco, I know you're going through a tough time, anyone can see that, but please, can you stop moping, even for a moment? I give you my sympathy, but I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."

I don't want your sympathy, Draco thought angrily. You don't understand what I'm going through. How could she? The Greengrass' were neutral in the war, they didn't need to worry about being on the wrong side. Draco observed Astoria's concerned face. Well, why not tell her? She was eager to listen…He just didn't want her to judge him differently. Astoria was a sympathetic person, though…and her sister, Daphne, already knew…

Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time, Draco muttered, "I've done it."

"You've done what?" Astoria encouraged Draco, smiling gently.

Draco kept his eyes locked with hers, wanting to gauge her reaction. "I'm one of them," he whispered. Draco heard his voice break, and he inwardly cringed. No going back now. Astoria's eyes widened. Instead of a slap, or a look of disgust, Astoria surprised Draco by leaning over and wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh, Draco…"

Draco tensed, but after a few seconds relaxed and slowly wrapped his arms around here. Awkwardly he began to pat her back. Draco closed his eyes and sighed, before realizing the spot on the front part of his shirt getting damp. Was she…?

Draco quickly pulled back and looked at Astoria, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not crying for me, Draco," said Astoria. "I'm crying for you."

Draco was confused. What? He didn't need anyone to cry for him. "That's ridiculous." He scoffed, but then hesitated, looking over her anxiously. What was he supposed to do? He had never had a girl crying in his arms, not really…

Astoria sniffed and took a deep breath. "You're a Death Eater. No wonder you look so upset. That arm I touched-was it-?"

"Yes, you touched the Dark Mark," Draco said sarcastically, though immediately regretted it. Maybe he was being too hard on her? "Good for you. I'm guessing you felt a burning feeling in your hand?" Astoria nodded. "Yes, well, you should be glad you weren't touching me longer. The Mark is charmed so that any non-bearers are burnt on contact. You only had it on for a second or so, though, so you're lucky."

Astoria observed him, her gaze intense. Draco shifted. "Who else knows?" Astoria asked. She wiped away her tears and watched Draco, anxious for an answer.

Hesitantly, Draco began. "Pansy knows…" Draco watched with some amusement as Astoria made a face. "So does Daphne…"

"My sister?" Astoria was surprised.

"Yes, Pansy tells her everything. "Draco said this, slightly bitter. "My family, obviously, and anyone else that's one of them."

"I notice you keep saying them," said Astoria. "Not 'us'."

Draco frowned, frustrated. "Of course I don't say 'us'. You think-" Draco lowered his voice, feeling anxious, "you think I wanted to do this? I was forced. I'm replacing my father."

"Is that why you don't want to be called Malfoy? Because it's your father's name, and you're replacing him."

Draco laughed bitterly. They were delving into topics he didn't want to talk about, but because he started the conversation, Astoria would keep pushing him if he didn't continue. "Among other things."

There was a short silence. Draco watched Astoria think it over, trying to decipher its meaning. Draco allowed a small smile. She was trying to figure it out, but to him, it was obvious.

"Thanks for telling me," said Astoria. "And I'm sorry for crying-I just-"

"It's sad? Life is sad, Astoria." Draco eyed her, surveying her reactions. "And…it's fine." Draco allowed his shoulders to sag. "I…needed to talk to someone…I know I overwhelmed you…"

"Your secret is safe with me," Astoria said earnestly. Astoria gave him a kind smile. Draco bit his lip. "Don't worry, Draco, it will get better. As long as you didn't become one willingly. From what I understand, you were trying to protect your family, right?" Draco nodded slowly. Where was she going with this? "So you were doing it out of love. Not out of you being bad, Draco. You know Harry Potter, I'm sure?" Draco set his jaw. As if she didn't know. As if anyone didn't know. He hated the Dark Lord, but Potter…Draco nodded curtly. "From what I understand, he does a lot of things for love, too. I'm sure you don't like being compared to Potter, but I want to point out that-"

Draco thought he realized what she was talking about. "Everyone likes him," Draco said dully. "Thanks, Astoria."

"That's not what I meant. Generally, people think of him as 'good', right? Because he's done all those things. And people generally think of you as 'bad' because you haven't."

"I've been a prat," Draco said regretfully, "I know it."

"Well," Astoria said wryly, "at least you admit it." Draco grunted. "But now's not the time for jokes-what I'm saying is, you're not bad, Draco! If you'd done this out of hate and spite-" absently, Draco thought of Potter- "then I have no problem telling you that you would be. You're doing this out of love, which is a good thing. Good things generally happen to good people, apparently, and right now, Draco, you're one of them." Astoria paused. "Your father-"

Draco cut her off. "My father did all those things, but I still care about him."

"Good! You're devoted. That's a good quality, and-my speech has gotten messed up, hasn't it?" Astoria laughed. Draco continued to study her. She had wonderful eyes, he noted. And her face was very pretty. Almost as wonderful as her personality… "But my point-"

What was her point? Astoria watched Draco carefully. The look in her eyes was so earnest that Draco, without knowing why, leaned in and kissed her.

Astoria cut off abruptly and paused for a moment, frozen, before she responded to him, kissing Draco back. Draco smiled slightly. Her lips were very soft…hastily, Draco gained his bearings, only allowing the kiss to last for a moment before he pulled away, his face red.

"I'm sorry," Draco said quickly, "That was uncalled for-I really shouldn't have-"

Astoria gave Draco a look that silenced him. "It's fine Draco," she said quietly, surprising him. Leaning over, she gave him a quick hug before standing up. "I guess I don't need to continue my speech?"

Draco smiled weakly, feeling his face burn with discomfort.

"I take that as a yes." Draco watched Astoria move toward the stairs before she paused and turned around. "Good luck, Draco, and goodnight. You should go to sleep, you know. You really do look dreadful." She smiled at him again before turning and going back home to her dorm.

Draco sat back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. He looked dreadful, huh? Absently, Draco thought he should probably feel offended…but he didn't. Draco leaned his head back on his seat, marveling at how, in just one night, he might have fallen in love.

Wow, that took a while. I hope you liked Draco's point of view! This is the final chapter, and I thank you for reading my story.

~D