Part 2 of 3: The Influence

Astoria clutched tightly to Draco as he kissed over her amorously. His overly playful behavior was out of character, but she wouldn't exchange it for the ferocious anger he exuded the night before. All night long she stayed awake, holding him close as he slept, mulling over what she had done. Guilt was gnawing at her and causing a tight aching in the pit of her stomach. She knew that Draco would be livid if he knew that she had cast such a terrible spell on him. He hated being manipulated by magic, especially dark magic. However, the guilt faded the moment he woke up and smiled at her.

Draco was perfectly content and oblivious to the entire situation at hand. He woke up that morning thinking that everything was normal, having no recollection or understanding of what had happened the previous night. There was no memory of walking in on his fiancée with another man and no memory of contacting his best friend to come over for his things. So when the door opened and Blaise Zabini walked into the room, he couldn't have been more confused.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, seemingly dumbfounded.

"W-what are you talking about?" Blaise retorted, suddenly equally as confused. "You told me last night that you wanted me to come over here and pick up your things."

"My things? Why would I do that?"

Astoria felt her stomach lurch with an overwhelming panic. She should have foreseen such an event taking place, but she had been too relieved to think of it. The blood rushed through her veins as she thought quickly. "Draco, honey, would you go make us some tea. I'll handle this."

Draco's confused expression vanished and he smiled at her. "Sure. I'll be right back."

Blaise watched his best friend glide out of the room cheerfully – too cheerfully. He wheeled back around at Astoria viciously. "What did you do to him!?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Astoria lied. "I haven't done anything."

"Bullshit! He told me what you did! He told me he wanted nothing to do with you and that he was moving out! Now suddenly he's falling over and making you tea!? You can't possibly think I'm that idiotic! I've known him far longer than you."

"You simply don't understand the relationship that we have. Draco loves me. And I love him. It isn't so simple to tear us apart."

Blaise stared at her for a long moment, infuriated at the idea that she had done something to his best friend. What that something was he had no yet figured out. He scanned around the room. Draco's and Astoria's clothes were scattered across the bedroom floor. There were books tossed all around the room. One book in particular stood out from the rest – it was the only book that didn't look messed up and it was the only book that had Astoria's wand placed upon it.

Astoria, having been tangled in her bed sheets, couldn't get up and to the desk fast enough. Blaise had already picked up the book she had foolishly left open on the desk and skimmed over the page. She tumbled across the room and snatched the book from his hands. Instead of fighting for the book, as she had expected him to do, he crossed his arms over his chest and raised a pointed brow. Astoria waited, expecting the worst, but Blaise simply smirked a devilish smirk at her.

"You know what, this is probably none of my business, right?" he finally stated. "This is about your relationship with Draco, so it only concerns the two of you. So, I guess I'm just going to get out of your way."

Astoria was too stunned to question him as he turned on his heel and strode out of the room. In the distance, she heard him say goodbye to his friend and leave the flat. She listened intently, waiting to see if he would suddenly return and try to take Draco or do something drastic. However, all she heard was the clinking of teacups in the kitchen. Sighing in relief, she made her way to the kitchen. Draco was standing at the counter, pouring the hot water into the cups. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, earning a gasp of surprise and a small laugh. The man turned around in her arms to smile down at her.

"So what was all that about?" Draco asked, gesturing toward the door of which Blaise had disappeared through.

"Oh, nothing, baby," Astoria whispered, her voice shaking. "It was just a misunderstanding. He must have dreamt that you asked him to come over here."

"Yeah, must have. Though is does sound vaguely familiar."

"No, no. I'm sure that's just him getting inside your head. Come on, why don't we go back to bed. I'll call work and tell them you won't be in today."

"Whatever you want," he said sweetly, tugging painfully at her heartstrings. He left the tea sitting on the counter and sauntered back to the bedroom.

Astoria stood in the kitchen, staring at the half-filled teacups. What she wanted more than anything was to get Draco back, but the Draco she received was different than the one she had had before. He definitely wasn't acting like himself and that bothered her. He wasn't the man she fell in love with anymore and that was her fault. But could she handle not having him at all? On the other hand, if Blaise had not been sincere in his earlier statement and he proceeded to take action, what would she do? Desperation clouded her judgment to the point where she had overlooked one simple fact – the spell she had cast over Draco was illegal.

I had been so intent on keeping Draco in my life, Astoria thought, that I didn't realize that if I got caught and thrown in Azkaban, I wouldn't have him anyway.

Anxiety pooled in her stomach and her head began to spin. I could end up in Azkaban. She leaned over the counter, gripping the cold counter top until her knuckles turned white. Her heart was pounding and tears were burning in her eyes. She was terrified by the idea. How had it not occurred to me last night!? How could I overlook it!? How could I cast such a terrible spell!?

"Ri? You coming to bed?" Draco voiced floated through the air behind her and wrapped around her, blanketing her with comfort. Oh yeah, that's how.

"I'll be right there, baby." The tea was left to cool, abandoned, on the counter. The silence drifted over the house in a powerful chill, as if dementors had already come for her. Fear made her lightheaded as she tiptoed down toward the bedroom. The subtle ticking of the hands on the clock seemed to echo in her mind. It wasn't until she reached the bedroom and saw Draco on the bed that none of it seemed to matter. Not Azkaban. Not the dementors. All that mattered was Draco – the reason she had taken such a severe risk in the first place. If she truly was going to end up in Azkaban, she wasn't going to waste a single moment that she had left with him.

Astoria climbed onto the bed and welcomed Draco's arms around her immediately. Resisting the tears that threatened to expose her true instability, she began placing soft kissed over Draco's face, neck, and chest. She sat up and clutched his face within her shaking hands. He looked shocked, but smiled expectantly at her.

"Draco, I want you to listen to me very carefully," she said, staring deeply into his eyes as if doing so would help him to focus. She wasn't sure if the spell was clouding his ability to comprehend what was truly going on around him. "No matter what ends up happening, you need to remember that I love you more than anything else in the world and that nothing else matters."

"I love you, too, Ri," he replied quietly.

As much as those words coming from those lips meant everything to her, Astoria couldn't help but feel sickened by them. It was probably the last time she would hear him say those words and it wasn't even really him talking. She spent her last moments with him talking to a spell.