A.N: Thank you for everyone who reviewed. It's really nice to know that someone likes my work.
But, back to the topic. This is the second chapter of this story and it's all Draco/Astoria. I wasn't really comfortable writing this, so I don't blame you if you think it sucks. It just had to be there, because of the events that will take place in the next chapter. REMEMBER TO REVIEW! (Yes, I just almost begged)
Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters.
Draco was staring at the Vanishing Cabinet in front of him. He didn't know what to do anymore. It seemed as if nothing would work, no way to fix it. He didn't have that much time left anymore. And after his last attempt to kill Dumbledore had gone horribly wrong, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Not that he minded the fact that Gryffindor Katie Bell had been cursed, but still. He had to do something. He didn't want to die. Of course there was always the bottle but he couldn't be sure if Slughorn would give it to Dumbledore.
Draco walked into the Slytherin common room. It was way past midnight and he'd gone through a great deal of trouble to come back without anyone noticing him. The common room was empty except for one person. A fifth year girl. Draco just stared at the girl for a while. He couldn't remember who she was. He was sure that he'd heard her name somewhere before but he couldn't remember where and what it was.
"What are you looking at?" the girl suddenly asked. Draco didn't need to see the person properly to know that she looked angry.
"I'm allowed to look around the common room. Especially when there's someone there. It's none of your business", Draco hissed just loud enough for the girl to hear. The girl got up from the couch she was sitting on and walked to him.
"What's your problem Malfoy? Sad 'cause daddy's in Azkaban?" she asked. This got Draco even angrier. Who was this girl and why did she think that she could talk to him like that? He was dangerous. The girl ought to have known that. There had been talk among the Slytherins that Draco had gotten a Dark Mark but no one was sure. And Draco was almost sure that the girl had heard these rumours.
"Who are you?" Draco asked, avoiding the girl's question.
"You don't need to know that", replied the girl. She tried to turn around and leave but Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her back so that she was facing him.
"Let's try again. Who are you?" he asked. The girl looked at him for a moment before saying: "Astoria Greengrass"
Suddenly Draco remembered who this girl was. She was, indeed, Astoria Greengrass, the only Slytherin girl who was known to have friends in Gryffindor house. Some rumored that she was even friends with blood-traitor scum like Ginny Weasley. Well, that just made Astoria look worse in his eyes. No people like her should be allowed in Slytherin. She was probably even friends with some mudbloods. It didn't matter to Draco that Astoria came from one of the purest bloodlines. Almost as pure as the Malfoys. In his eyes, instead of being someone to respect as an equal, Draco saw Astoria as someone to be ashamed of.
Astoria was rather frightened. Not that she'd ever let that show. Draco was holding her arm so tightly that there would probably be a bruise or two on it the next morning. Right now though, Malfoy seemed frozen in front of her. He just stood there, staring at her. His expression had gone completely blank after she'd told her his name. 'He's probably heard of me', Astoria thought. Almost every Slytherin tried to avoid her and she knew that they sometimes talked about her behind her back.
"Let go of me," Astoria said firmly. This seemed to bring Malfoy back to reality, but he still didn't let go of her arm. "Let go of me", she repeated. Finally, he let go.
"Don't worry. I won't lay a hand on you again. You filthy blood-traitor", Draco hissed. Astoria laughed at him. She actually laughed at him!
"Do you think I care about what you think of me?" she asked. They just stared at each other for a moment. Nothing in the room moved. They both wanted to get away from each other but there seemed to be some silent battle going on between them. They knew that the one who'd leave, would lose. What they'd lose, was a question that hadn't been answered yet.
"I do think you care," Draco suddenly said. Astoria stared at him in disbelief.
"Excuse me?" She asked. What on earth was Malfoy talking about? He must've lost his mind somewhere between losing his dad and getting beaten up by Potter.
"I do think you care. You care what everyone thinks of you. That's why you're friends with mudloods and their sort. Because you want people to know that you're different, even though you're really not", Draco said. Astoria was still staring. Was he accusing her of some sort of lying?
"I don't know what's wrong with you. I don't know if you've been beaten up by Gryffindors too many times or if you've just simply gone mental, but none of that's true. And don't use the word mudblood. It's offensive", Astoria said.
"I use the exact words I want to use. And don't pretend that you know something about me. Don't pretend that you know me at all, you'll just end up making a fool out of yourself", hissed Draco. Astoria crossed her hands across her chest.
"Oh really?" she said, "I don't know anything about you? Let's see. I know that you think you're better than everyone, I know that you adore Death Eaters..." then Astoria suddenly stopped. She took a step closer to Draco, stood on the tips of her toes and whispered into his ear: "And I know that you are a Death Eater."
Draco looked at Astoria in disbelief. Was this how it would all end? Was his task going to be ruined by some fifthyear? No. But Draco couldn't help himself from wondering how this girl was able to stand there, unafraid, if she truly knew that he was a Death Eater.
"Aren't you afraid?" Draco asked. There was a slight hint of amusement in his voice and Astoria heard it very well.
"No, not really. I've met lots of Death Eaters. They're not all so bad," she said. Draco felt his eyes widen so much that they were starting to hurt.
"You're the worst blood-traitor I've ever met. You have no idea which side you're on, do you?" he said. She really was the worst blood-traitor he'd ever met. She hanged out with Gryffindors and then she said that she knew Death Eaters and that they weren't really that bad.
"Well, I admit that I might get things confused every now and then. But I don't really think that you're a bad person," Astoria said. Draco looked at her. Was she joking?
"Interesting," was all that Draco could say.
"I'm an interesting person," Astoria said. Draco nodded.
"Obviously," he whispered as he took a step closer to her.
"But I won't be an interesting person if I sleep during lessons so I'm going to sleep," Astoria said and walked to the girls' dormitories. Draco was just left there, standing on his own. His charm had not worked on the girl. Not worked. It was the first time it hadn't worked. It always worked on Pansy and her sort. But maybe that was it, Draco thought, maybe it's because Pansy and her sort were just simply so daft. But this girl wasn't. This girl was interesting. One of the most interesting girls he'd ever met.
But Draco had other things to think about than the fact that Astoria was interesting. Astoria had said that she knew Draco was a Death Eater and he couldn't have that. It was a risk to his whole mission. She was a risk. And he needed to find out exactly how to silence Astoria. Whatever it took. He needed to make her keep her pretty mouth shut. Not that he thought her mouth was pretty, no. He hadn't even looked. Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself.
Thank you for reading.
