Astoria was six years old.

Draco was horrified and disgusted until Narcissa Black—the blonde woman he'd first met—pulled him aside and said that the Blacks didn't let anyone touch a single hair on her head.

Draco relaxed at that.

"Astoria, would it be alright if Draco could stay here with you for a little while?"

Narcissa was soft and patient as she spoke to Astoria, explaining that Draco wasn't like the other men who went in and out of the brothel. The dark-haired girl seemed hesitant at first, but she eventually was convinced that Draco wouldn't do anything to her.

Draco tried not to feel hurt that Astoria didn't trust him. It wasn't a personal thing, who knew what the girl had seen? Still, he knew that he wouldn't hurt a fly, and that he could give off that impression wounded him a little bit.

He wanted to make her smile.

Draco walked up to the little girl and bowed so low the his hair brushed the floor. He heard Astoria giggle, a smile tugging at his own lips. He stood up straight with a flourish, then gently grabbed Astoria's hand and kissed it. She blushed and giggled again.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, dearest Astoria," Draco said in his best impression of his uncle George.

"Wow, such a charmer," Narcissa commented sarcastically before she rolled her eyes and left Draco and Astoria alone.

Draco didn't exactly know how long he stayed with Astoria, playing games and chatting with the six-year-old, but it was probably around midnight when Colin finally came around. Draco wasn't quite sure how he had stayed awake, or how Astoria managed it either.

"Astoria!" Colin exclaimed upon entering Astoria's room.

Astoria shot up from the floor where she'd been attempting to braid Draco's hair and slammed into Colin's legs.

"Colin!" she squealed.

Draco smiled softly at the pair, noting how close they seemed. It was sweet.

"How's my little Storibook?" Colin asked loudly, leaning down and hoisting Astoria onto his hip.

Astoria giggled at the nickname. Colin's attention was completely on her as he affectionately tapped her nose, and Draco almost felt like he was intruding on something.

"I made a new friend!" Astoria said excitedly, her face glowing.

"Oh, yeah?" Colin asked, smiling slightly.

He glanced in Draco's direction, a knowing gleam in his eyes.

"Draco is like you! He's nice!" Astoria whispered as if it was some great secret.

Draco felt tempted to march down the hall and order the execution of all the—the customers who were serviced here; cradle Astoria against his chest; flee back to the palace.

But no, Draco couldn't do any of those things, so he settled on closing his eyes for a moment and exhaling slowly so he wouldn't scowl. He didn't want Astoria to change her opinion on him now.

"Storibook, would you mind if I talked to your new friend for a minute?" Colin asked.

Colin is good with her, Draco thought absently as Astoria nodded her consent. Colin turned his gaze on Draco, and his heart sped up and his heavy breathing basically told Colin all he needed to know.

You know what? I'm just gonna go. . . Draco thought, but the words didn't quite leave his mouth. Was he even moving his lips? He had no idea. He didn't think that he'd like what Colin was going to talk to him about. No one had looked at him that way except his mother, minutes before she'd told him that he'd have to marry, despite knowing Draco couldn't do that to himself and the woman he was supposed to marry.

Draco hadn't seen Narcissa come back into the room, but she had and then Astoria was being passed between Colin and the woman like she was a cat. The little girl giggled and clung to Narcissa.

Draco wondered if Narcissa had a child. She would be a good mother.

"Draco," Colin said once the girls had left the room, voice low and heavy with unsaid words.

Suddenly, Draco wondered if he'd accidentally taken advantage of Colin's entire family and thrown two of them in the dungeons without knowing. What else could Draco have done to earn the dark gaze Colin turned on him?

"Uh, hi, Colin," Draco replied, fidgeting with his sleeves.

Lucius would've cuffed him on the back of his head and scolded him for it, but Draco bit his lip too. Lucius wasn't there to correct Draco's every mistake anymore.

The impact of what Draco had done settled on his shoulders in that moment, stunning him into silence. He had some of the worst timing, but better late than never, right?

Colin narrowed his eyes.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" Colin hissed.

The blond was at a loss for words.

"Uh, I have to get married," he said.

Colin stared at him in distaste.

"So you came here?" Colin gestured to the walls of the brothel, eyebrow raised.

Draco felt his cheeks heat up.

"No, I can't do it, so I left the palace," Draco said quickly, trying to recover from his embarrassment.

"Well, go back," Colin said through gritted teeth.

Draco stared at him, feeling strangely hurt.

"Why?" His voice was small and nothing like the strong, powerful one he'd wanted to use.

"You can't be here. Do you know how difficult it is for Harry to look at you?" Colin asked harshly.

Draco flinched. He hadn't thought about that. Of course Harry wouldn't want to be around Draco. Ginevra and Lucius were responsible for the death of his parents!

Draco's shoulders slumped.

"He's—he's not strong enough to deal with that, no matter how much he'd like to pretend," Colin murmured.

Draco felt faint. He hadn't even considered that he might've been hurting Harry. Nothing the black-haired man had done with him had given him any sign that Draco had been hurting him. Then again, Draco didn't know Harry at all. Colin knew him better; cared for him more.

Draco suddenly felt like he'd somehow forced himself onto Harry. It was a horrible feeling and Draco's stomach churned.

Colin was still staring at him, his gaze heavy with blame and anger. Draco couldn't find any reason to be upset at Colin. The man was perfectly justified in his anger.

"I should go," Draco whispered, staring at the floor.

"Yes, you should," Colin said quietly.

Draco took a deep breath and hoisted his bag off the floor. He pulled the strap on his shoulder and left the room, brushing past Colin as he went.

He felt awful. The realization that he'd hurt Harry made him wonder how he could've been so selfish in the first place. He kept his head down as he left the brothel as quickly as he could.

He had nowhere to go. The world suddenly felt bigger than it had any right to be.


A/N: I'm sorry for the sporadic updates and the cliffhanger! Please review! Do you guys have any guesses as to where it's going? Any feedback is appreciated.