A/N: Back with another chapter. This one is pretty angst-y, I guess you could call it. Also, I know Astoria and Daphne don't really have a brother, but I made one up, an older brother named Hyperion, which can be where Scorpius gets his middle name. In my world, at least… haha. Anyways, please review!
The news had come in late afternoon, as most news does. The black clouds in the sky broke as Daphne sobbed into Astoria's shoulder.
Their brother was dead.
The Healers said it was a mistake; Hyperion had been injured and had suddenly become worse, too quickly for the Healers to retaliate.
Astoria and Daphne stood in a corridor in St. Mungo's, and Daphne dried her eyes and turned to the healer. "I want to see the body," she whispered, her voice cracking on the word 'body'. Astoria had never heard her sister's voice do that before.
The healer shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Greengrass. I cannot allow you to see Hyperion's body at this time."
"I want to. Show me and my sister. We are immediate relatives."
"I cannot allow it," the healer said firmly. "It wouldn't matter if you were acquaintances or Siamese twins, Ms. Greengrass. You may not see the body."
Daphne burst in tears.
Astoria slapped the healer's cheek. "Don't you talk to her like that," she said dangerously. "Don't you ever talk to my sister like that."
The two sisters were escorted out of the hospital without seeing their brother's body.
Back at home, Daphne laid her head on the kitchen table and sobbed into the fine wood. Astoria wrote letter after letter to family and friends, announcing that Hyperion had passed away. Witches and wizards apparated into their house and brought platters of food, placing them on the empty counters and kissing Astoria on the top of her head – patting Daphne on the shoulder – giving them empty words of comfort. Astoria tried to fake a smile, but it ended up a grimace of shock and pain.
Astoria couldn't help thinking about her sister – strong, cool Daphne, breaking down and crying, not taking control of a situation. She wondered if this was any inclination of who was really the stronger sister.
Selfish thoughts, she said to herself. Stop it, Astoria. Just shut up.
Their parents came home and cried and then turned in to bed, shaking with grief and shock and heartbreak. Astoria helped her older sister to Daphne's old bedroom, dressing her in a nightgown she had left behind and tucking her into bed.
"Astoria," Daphne whimpered, half asleep.
"Sh, I know," Astoria whispered, kissing her sister on the forehead. "I know, Daphne. Sleep."
And out in the rain, walking in downtown London instead of apparating, Astoria chose not to go to her own empty apartment. She took a completely different route, past the Muggle pharmacist and the grocer's and the bakery, to an upscale apartment building where she slipped into the elevator without ringing up.
It was late. Draco would not be awake. Astoria knew this, yet she still whispered a silent Alohomora and broke in to his flat.
It was dark inside. The blackness pressed in on her at all sides, and it was then, right there in Draco's light-ridden apartment, that she started to feel: sadness and anger and melancholic heartbreak, all washing over her at once so suddenly it took her breath away. She stumbled into his bedroom and shook his bare shoulder. "Draco, Draco," she breathed in his ear.
He pushed himself up on his pillows, the sheet falling away from his bare chest. "What's the matter?" he asked, voice laced with tiredness. "Astoria, what's…?"
"Hyperion's dead."
Draco exhaled, breath leaving his mouth slowly. "Jesus Christ, oh, God, Astoria."
"I just… I need to… I can't be there anymore," Astoria choked out. "My parents, my sister… they can't – they don't have any control. They don't understand what's going on. They can't stop crying."
Draco ran his fingers through her hair and nodded, encouraging her to keep talking.
"I just – I'm not the strong one, Draco, I'm the one who should be falling apart, but I need to be in control because they can't…" Her voice cracked. "I… I can't be alone right now."
Draco leaned over and tugged off Astoria's shoes, placing them on the ground. Then, he tenderly lifted her off her feet and placed her beside him, lying down. His arms pulled her comfortingly close. "Try to sleep," he said.
"I don't think I'll never be able to sleep again," she confessed. "Hyperion was – he just knew how to handle everything, and without him around, everything will be wrong, I can't stand it, and I need him here –"
"It gets easier," he said quietly. "Missing a family member – the pain's always there, but soon you'll be getting through a day without crying, and then a week, and then maybe two. But you'll get through this."
Astoria wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, pulling him closer than should be humanly possible. "Maybe I can sleep a little after all," she breathed, closing her eyes.
