"You're not going to tell me are you?" Astoria asked as she looked across the table at Draco. They had started a bit of a routine, where Draco would meet her during her lunch at the small café a few stores down from the bookstore, on the days when she worked.

"Tell you what?" He replied as he took a sip of his coffee and looked up at her.

"Why Ginny called you a heart breaker, and why you get that look in your eye whenever her name is mentioned." She answered simply as she looked down at her food. She really wasn't all that hungry, but she didn't like how broken he always managed to look when he heard her name.

"Does it matter?" he replied. "What's done is done, right?"

"I suppose." She responded as she looked up at him again. "Will you be attending the Ministry's dinner party?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, I was under the impression you wanted people to like you again." She answered simply. "Attending social events would probably help you in that area."

"Is being seen with a Greengrass not enough to boost my likability?" He mocked, but she hardly seemed to notice or care. After having a few serious conversations with her, it was easy for Draco to see how she could get along with Luna. It was her ability to tell the truth, or inability to lie, that made it easy for her to get along with Hermione.

"Besides, I heard it was being hosted by your family." Astoria said but paused when she saw the look in his eyes. "Did you not know that?"

"Clearly I didn't." He replied before taking another drink.

"Perhaps your mother had good reason to keep it from you." Astoria laughed but Draco's face remained hardened.

"Perhaps so that she could more easily force me to go."

"I think 'stay' is a more correct term." She replied, still laughing slightly though Draco failed to see the humor. "Oh, stop sulking, Draco. It's not that bad. You just shake a few hands and make some small talk."

"I'm not good at small talk."

"You manage well enough to talk to me."

"I wasn't under the impression we were making small talk." He replied and Astoria remained quiet. She often did when Draco was probably right and she didn't want to argue with him.

"Well, no matter." She shrugged as she finished her meal and looked up at him. Again, he found himself lost in her impossibly blue eyes, which somehow still held innocence he doubted even existed in a world that had seen such a violent war only a little over a year ago. "It won't be nearly as bad as you think. They'll be some very important people there, and their daughters. I imagine you wouldn't mind a dance or two with the Minister's daughter."

"She's not that attractive." He commented, avoiding her gaze. "Will you be attending?"

"Most likely." She answered softly, and Draco faced her once more.

Silence followed as Draco watched her, but she didn't seem to notice the silence. She was distracted by him. Though she hardly knew the Draco Malfoy who had emerged from the war, she had never seen his grey eyes become so lit that they almost appeared silver. She didn't know what it was that made his eyes suddenly become bright, but he looked so much more attractive that way.

"Do you miss Hogwarts?" Draco asked, breaking the silence, but their eyes never strayed from one another.

"I miss the Hogwarts we had before Voldermolt." She answered. He had expected that answer, but he had not expected her to say the name. Of course, a good number of people were more willing to say it after his ultimate demise, but he hadn't expected it from a seventeen year old witch, who in some ways was still a girl. But he didn't like thinking of her in that way. She almost seemed like a child to him when he thought of her like that. Of course, that explained her innocence rather well. Nonetheless, Draco tried his best to think of her as the woman she was mentally.

"Do you remember me?" Draco asked curiously. He had tried on several occasions to think of her during his Hogwarts years, but he couldn't think of any other moment than the one that did not reflect well on him.

"Yes, of course I do." She answered. "I knew who you were, remember?"

"No," He shook his head. "That's not I meant."

"You mean real memories?"

"Yes." He nodded as she looked down to gaze into her cup as though it would provide answers for her.

"I remember you kissing Pansy by the lake. And you were always somewhat happy after your potions class, probably because it was your best subject. You always ate one thing at a time off your plate, instead just eating like a normal person. And your cup was always in your right hand."

Draco only stared at her, and she could feel his gaze but didn't want to meet it. In amazement, Draco could say nothing, and simply held his gaze, watching the way her dark locks fell around her face and how her eyelids fluttered. He thought he saw a bit of a blush across her cheeks, but there was no trace of it when she did finally look up.

"I assume you remember nothing about me, expect that I lost track of time in the library one night and dropped my books in my rush, causing me to be even later than I already was." Her words carried a bit of sarcasm, but her voice didn't. As always she spoke as sweetly as her eyes appeared.

"I didn't know you dropped your books that night."

"You wouldn't have cared, even if you had known." She responded. She was right. But he wasn't that Draco anymore. He had changed during the war, and it was probably a combination of any number of things that had caused it. Of course, Astoria knew of who had probably caused the biggest of the changes, but she had learned neither was willing to speak of it, if they acknowledged it happened at all.