Chapter 7
Malfoy Manor, and the Malfoy family for that matter, was in its prime. The expansive grounds were well-manicured, and the interior of the house was kept immaculate by an army of house elves. The proud family of three could not be happier. Draco would be attending Hogwarts in the fall, and Narcissa was ecstatic; Lucius still harbored bad feelings toward Dumbledore, so he was not as enthused as she.
The manor was filled to the brim and bursting with activity. Lucius and Narcissa had invited their friends over who had children that were going to be in Draco's class. The Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson, and Greengrass families were all in attendance. The adults were seated in the garden where the screaming and laughing of the children playing could be heard. But there was one young girl who was clinging tightly to her mother instead of playing with the others.
"Astoria, darling, why don't you go play with the others? The adults have some grown-up things to talk about," Evangeline Greengrass asked her nine-year-old daughter.
"Mum they're so much older than me! They'll pick on me. Daphne told me she would let them!" Astoria looked absolutely horrified at the suggestion of leaving her mother's side. Narcissa smiled comfortingly at Astoria and reached her hand out to the young girl.
"Come on. I'll have Draco make sure they treat you right." Astoria glanced at Narcissa warily. Narcissa was not bluffing about Draco, though; she knew the unchallenged sort of power that Draco had over the other children. He was a Malfoy after all. Astoria took Narcissa's hand and the woman led her to where the other children were playing.
When the duo reached the older children, they saw quite a scene. Pansy Parkinson was repeatedly hitting Gregory Goyle while the other kids were watching and laughing; all except Draco. He had a small smirk on his pale face.
"Greg. You. Are. Such. A. Prat," Pansy said in between punches. Narcissa did not know what happened, and she was not sure she wanted to know. Narcissa told Astoria to stay where she was before she walked over to Draco.
She was greeted with a chorus of, "Hi, Mrs. Malfoy!" She bent down and whispered in Draco's ear before he got up off of the grass and followed her to where Astoria was hiding behind a bush. Narcissa gave Draco a slight nod before she left to go back to the other adults.
Astoria was staring at the ground when Draco placed his hand on her chin and lifted her face to look at his. He smiled at her reassuringly, but she could not smile back because she was still worried. "Come on, Astoria, you'll be fine. No one is going to tease you, you're with me." He talked in a fake voice that was an octave lower than his normal voice. Then he puffed out his chest exaggeratedly, trying to make himself look tough. He looked and sounded absolutely ridiculous. Astoria couldn't help but giggle.
"That's better." His chest deflated and his voice was back to normal. "But, in all seriousness, you'll be okay. I will make sure that no one messes with you, not even Daphne. She's being even more annoying than Pans today anyway."
"She's annoying everyday," Astoria mumbled, causing Draco to laugh.
"Can you keep a secret, Astoria?" Draco asked.
"Sure I can." He leaned over and whispered into her ear.
"I like you much more than your sister." Astoria blushed furiously, but she had a smile on her face. Draco smiled kindly at her once more before taking her small hand in his and leading her over to his friends. They all looked warily at Draco, but no one said anything. Daphne glared at her sister, but she, too, was silent.
Astoria sat next to Draco for the whole evening, laughing when Pansy would thump Vince or Greg for being 'prats,' frowning when they would talk about leaving for Hogwarts in the fall, and smiling whenever Draco would squeeze her hand and flash a smile in her direction.
Astoria buried her face in the fluffy pillows on her opulent bed in her more than amazing room. Draco Malfoy. Bugger times a thousand. What in Merlin's name was Addison thinking?
Astoria sighed loudly and rolled around in her bed. She knew that Addison didn't know about her up and down history when it came to Draco. Even though it was more down than it was up. And, in all fairness, she didn't even think one could call what she and Draco had a 'history.' She had some good memories of him, but from the time she turned eleven and came to Hogwarts she was invisible to him. It was as if she didn't even exist.
She had been to Malfoy Manor twice that she could remember, once when she was five and once when she was nine. Daphne had gone a few times when Draco had get-togethers for his friends, but Astoria was too young to be included in that group. She had faint memories of times when he was kind to her, but they were all in the past. He had been too involved in other things when he got to Hogwarts. He had Quidditch, prefect duties, and later on he had to deal with his family's issues and Voldemort. Not to mention his ongoing antagonism toward Harry Potter. Astoria just faded into the background.
She was still exceptionally grateful for the job; anything was better than Durmstrang. She outwardly flinched at the name of the school, and images flashed behind her eyelids that she would rather not remember. She flopped over like a fish out of water before screaming into her pillow for the hundredth time that night.
Once Astoria grew tired of staring aimlessly at the wall, she decided that some hot chocolate might be able to calm her down a bit. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was after one a.m.; no one would be up this early. She threw on her dressing gown before silently making her way down to the kitchens. She was almost completely enveloped in darkness outside of her room, but the little moonlight shining through the windows helped her find her way.
She tiptoed into the kitchen and found one lone house elf that was awake, and she deduced that the rest of them must be sleeping. The small female elf hopped up enthusiastically from the stool where she was sitting. "What can Pippy get for Miss?"
"Would you mind making me some hot chocolate, Pippy?" Astoria asked kindly.
"It's no trouble at all Miss Greengrass! Pippy will do it right away." Astoria settled down on one of the stools at the counter and watched Pippy bustle around the kitchen quickly. In less than a minute, Astoria had a hot cup of chocolate placed in her hands. She took a large sip and sighed. It tasted heavenly.
"Thank you so much, Pippy. It is really wonderful." Pippy smiled brightly before she began working again. Astoria had no clue what the elf was doing, and she knew better than to ask. Astoria leaned against the counter and sipped her hot chocolate, savoring every sip. She slipped into a dreamlike state, her mind wandering off to only Merlin knows where.
Astoria jerked back into consciousness when she heard maniacal laughter ring down the stairwell. The kitchens were at the bottom of the back stairwell that led all the way up to the house elves' quarters on the third floor. The laughter sounded as if it were coming from far away, so Astoria it assumed it was coming from the third floor. When the laughter didn't stop after a few minutes, Astoria decided to head back up to her room; that evil laughter sent chills up and down her spine.
Astoria nearly ran to her room; she had been sufficiently creeped out for one night. She opened her door quickly and closed it slowly so that she wouldn't make any noise. All though she tried not to make noise with the door, she had to clap her hand over her own mouth to stop herself from screaming when she saw someone in her bed. She let out a relieved sigh when she noticed that it was Scorpius. She walked over to try and wake him up; why was he here?
She walked over and gently sat next to his curled up form on the bed. "Scorpius." She whispered, but he didn't even stir. She placed her hand on his soft blonde hair and rubbed her thumb across his forehead tenderly. "Scorpius, wake up." She whispered a bit louder. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing his bright blue eyes that were so different from his father's cold grey. He looked around for a moment before a sad expression settled onto his face.
"I'm so sorry I fell asleep, I didn't mean to, honest." His voice was still a little groggy, yet the worry came through in his words strongly. "I just heard you leave, so I came in here to wait so that I could talk to you." He sounded very upset.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just relax and tell me what's wrong." She grasped his small had in hers and smiled at him. He let out a small breath.
"I'm sorry I was so mean earlier. I just… I'm used to it being me and dad all the time. And now I have to actually learn stuff, and that means I have to stay here, even when he goes on trips. I used to always go with him and I didn't mean to be so mean to you. I'm really normally nice, everyone says so. That's why dad would take me, because I was such a good kid. But I really am sorry." He let out a sniffle, and Astoria saw tears leaking down his cheeks. She wiped them away with her thumbs before gathering him up in a hug.
Scorpius reminded Astoria of Draco when he was younger, and not just because of his looks. Draco used to be so sensitive and kind. He may not have been good at showing remorse like Scorpius, but she assumed that Scorpius got that from his mother. Draco had too much pride for his own good. She tried not to think of how much Draco had changed from when they were children, so she instead focused on Scorpius.
He had stopped crying, or at least the tears had stopped. She looked down and her ice blue eyes locked with his. "Do you want me to take you to your room? Just tell me the way." He shook his head and yawned.
"No, I can go myself. Don't worry about me." He tried to stand up, but Astoria caught him as he swayed slightly.
"Okay, big guy, you just get in under those covers right there." She pointed to her bed.
"Where will you sleep?" He asked groggily, his eyes fighting to stay open.
"I will sleep on the sofa." She told him. He shook his head.
"Don't go."
"I meant here in my room, silly. I'll be right over there." His eyes closed, and she placed a light kiss on his forehead. He smiled and curled up into a ball before drifting off to sleep. Astoria took a pillow and some blankets from the huge bed before settling down on the couch.
She watched Scorpius sleep peacefully for a while. She wished that she could trust people as easily as the sweet, five-year-old boy on her bed. She wished she could have the naivety and the innocence back that she had long since lost. Decisions were so much simpler in a world of black and white, good and bad. Life was so much happier before things got complicated. Living was so much more effortless when your world wasn't tainted with horrors of the past.
A/N: I'm still alive, and I apologize for the ridiculous wait. The end of the school year was ridiculously stressful, and school comes before everything else. For at least the next three weeks I will update once a week. Depending on whether or not I get a job, I will be trying to finish up this story within the next two months. I have my senior year of high school coming up, and I know that it is going to be crazy. I will try to get this story finished ASAP.
Thanks so much to everyone who is still reading this story. I hope you like this chapter. Reviews are appreciated immensely :]
