Chapter 8: Addicted

A.N: Just a heads up, Lupin and Tonks aren't dead either. I couldn't...


Leaves were starting to fall outside the windows of Hogwarts. It was the start of October, a couple of weeks after the students first Hogsmeade trip. Astoria was currently sitting in her seventh year Transfiguration class. She was sitting next to Draco - it was the only other seat available once again, could you believe that? But the two of them had hardly spoken to each other in these past weeks. Other than what was necessary to complete assignments, both had no idea what to say to the other. Astoria noticed Draco hadn't tried anything since that time at the Three Broomsticks, and she was not about to bring it up. But as hard as she tried to clear him from her mind, she couldn't. She had her eyes always drawn toward him when he entered a room. She would always glance at him now and again, just like she was right now.

The desks in the Transfiguration classroom where set in pairs. Theo and Blaise were at the shared desk in front of them. Occasionally, one of them would turn, lean back and mutter some joke. Astoria found herself laughing at a lot of the things Theo said. In the past couple weeks, her and Theo had grown closer. They would sit in the common room some nights, just hanging out. Occasionally Blaise would join them, but not too often. Astoria found she quite liked the company of the two of them. However, her thoughts sooner or later always drifted to the man currently sitting next to her. She glanced at him; he had his uniform on with his white shirt and gray sweater, a Slytherin tie, and black slacks. His hair wasn't as gelled up and stiff as she remembered from previous years. It looked really soft, it was a bit all over the place. She just wanted to reach over and run her fingers through it…

"It's rude to stare Greengrass." Astoria was ripped from her thoughts when Malfoy whispered, looking at her. She hadn't realized how long she was staring.

"I wasn't staring. You just have something in your teeth." She lied.

Draco smirked, "No I don't. You were staring."

Astoria huffed. She didn't want to get into an argument with him right now. She turned her attention back to the new Transfiguration professor. McGonagall had taken over as Headmistress and so they hired this new professor along with Remus Lupin back as D.A.D.A professor.

All of the sudden Astoria saw Draco slide a piece of parchment to her, nonchalantly. It said:

You can stare at me any day.

Astoria glared at him, grabbed her quill and quickly wrote on the same piece of parchment:

I was not staring.

Whatever you say Greengrass.

What so now you're talking to me?

I believe we're writing, love.

Astoria took in a breath. Love? What the hell was he doing. He can't just not talk to her for weeks and then go right back to flirting. Angrily, she wrote back:

Regardless, you're communicating with me again?

Yeah, I like communicating with you, as you so formally put.

If you liked it so much, how come you seem to quit for long periods of time.

People often try to quit drugs when they're addicted.

Holy shit. Astoria looked at him, eyes wide. What the hell did that mean? Astoria debated on whether or not to write back. She stared at him for a moment, contemplating. He was giving her what looked like a sincere look. He wasn't smirking or sneering. Astoria had never seen him look at her like that. Hesitantly, she picked her quill back up.

So I'm a drug?

Oh, the worst.

But you wanna quit?

I said "try" to quit. Never said I wanted to. Never said I was successful.

Dear lord, this boy was gonna be the death of her. Lucky for her, their professor announced the end of class. Astoria quickly gathered her things and made to move, but Draco grabbed her arm.

"Meet me at the Astronomy tower tonight at 11." He whispered in her ear.

"And why would I do that?" She asked, struggling for breath.

"Because I don't wanna quit." He whispered again, then grabbed his bag and walked out.


Draco had a plan. He couldn't take it anymore. He was hoping that if he just laid low for a little bit, Astoria might calm down and let him in. But it's been weeks and he'd had enough. He had a talk with Blaise last night, like a real talk. Draco was going out of his mind. Every time he saw her, he wanted to be right there next to her. He wanted to capture her attention all of the time, keep her eyes trained on him. That's why when he caught her staring at him earlier, he couldn't help but break his "lay low" plan. Blaise had encouraged him to just cut the crap. Well his exact words were:

"Draco, cut the bullshit. Cut the games. Just tell her how you feel. Tell her what you want. Tell her this isn't some passing fancy. Just tell her everything."

That then lead to Draco inviting Astoria to the Astronomy tower. He was beyond nervous. Currently he was sitting at dinner in the Great Hall with Blaise and Theo. He kept bobbing his leg up and down, biting his nails, looking around for Astoria. She hadn't come to dinner yet.

"Draco, mate, you look like a first year." Theo said, waving his hand in front of Draco to get his attention.

Draco immediately stopped fidgeting and picked up his fork, sitting up straight, "I'm fine. I'm just…"

"Nervous? Damn, never thought I'd see the day." Theo smirked.

Draco glared at him, "Shut up." He bit his thumb, still looking around, "Why isn't she here?"

Blaise put his hand on Draco's shoulder, "You really need to calm down, mate. Maybe she's busy. It doesn't matter, you'll see her later."

"Will I Blaise? What if she doesn't come?"

"She'll come." Theo assured.

"Oh right. I'm sorry you're the Astoria expert now. You two are like BFF's now right?" Draco muttered, stabbing his food with his fork.

"Draco, she likes you. Stop acting like a lovestruck first year. You're an adult, fucking act like it. Besides, look." Theo said, nodding his head toward the entrance.

Draco's eyes immediately snapped to the gorgeous brunette that just walked in. He sighed in relief. His eyes caught hers and he winked. He saw her blush, looking away. However, then she walked past them and sat further down the Slytherin table with her friends. Draco sat, angry for a minute. But then he shook it off, of course she would with her friends. It's not like they were friends are anything.

"You okay mate?" Blaise asked.

"I'm fine. Shut up." Draco again started playing with his food. Not looking at his friends. But every once in awhile, he felt his eyes drift over to Astoria. She was laughing with her friends, happily eating. Draco sighed, he'd have his chance to talk to her later. Right now, he needed to relax and figure out just what he wanted to say to her. He didn't want to seem too pushy or desperate. He still wanted to maintain his cool demeanor. But he also wanted to get his point across, his point that he really did want her.

"Draco…" Blaise started, however Theo quickly punched Blaise in the shoulder.

Draco sat, confused. However once he looked up, he saw what Blaise was trying to warn him about. Doley had just entered the Great Hall and had taken a seat right next to Astoria. Draco immediately started shooting daggers at the back of Doley's head. Who the fuck does he think he is? Draco could hear Doley attempt to flirt with her. The thing that really got him though was that Astoria was laughing and smiling at Doley as he talked. After one particularly loud belly laugh from her, Draco had had enough. He angrily got up from the table and stormed off. He could faintly hear his friends yelling to him, but he was ignoring them. He needed to be alone right now.


"So then I was like…" Astoria immediately stopped listening to whatever Sebastian was saying as she saw Draco get up and storm out of the Great Hall. Her eyes then looked to Theo and Blaise, searching for answers. They were calling out to Draco, trying to get him to come back. However, they didn't follow him. Astoria thought about following him, but then decided against it. She'd be seeing him later anyway. She had finally accepted that there was no way she wasn't going to that Astronomy tower. She couldn't stop thinking about him, and after what he said - or rather wrote - she knew she had to do this.

"Tori, are you listening?" Sebastian asked, noticing she had stopped paying attention to him.

"Hmm? Sorry, what were you saying?" She asked, focusing back on him.

"Tori, you've been a bit distant these past couple weeks. Did I do something wrong?"

Astoria gave him a shocked expression, "No. No Sebastian you didn't do anything wrong! Sorry, I'm just... dealing with stuff right now."

"Can I help? Are you okay?"

Astoria smiled, "No, really I'm fine. Thank you though Sebastian." She then moved to continue eating her dinner, however, Sebastian then grabbed her hand. His hand was cold it felt.. wrong to her somehow. She quickly turned to him, raising her eyebrow.

"Listen Tori, I really like you… And every since Hogsmeade, you haven't really said anything about how you feel, and I just thought… I don't know. Maybe…"

"Sebastian, you're really sweet. But I'm sorry, I just don't think I feel the same way." Astoria replied, honestly.

"What? But I mean…"

Astoria let go of his hand, instead patting him on the shoulder, "I'm really sorry Sebastian. But you deserve someone better. Someone who has their life together, someone more... well not me. I am truly very sorry."

He just looked down, not meeting her eyes. He nodded and then got up, walking out. Damn it, she thought, that's the second guy that's stormed out of the Great Hall tonight.


It was now 10:55pm. Astoria walked out of the common room, pulling her robes tighter around her due to the cold dungeon air. She made her way to the Astronomy tower, careful not to get caught by Peeves or Filch. She was beyond nervous. She crossed her arms over her chest, still freezing. Astoria slowly climbed the spiral staircase to the tower. It was windy up there, but not as cold as she expected.

When she climbed the last step, Astoria immediately saw Draco. He was sitting against the railing. His tie was loose around his neck like it was that night in the common room. His hair was a mess atop his head. He sat with one knee raised, his arm resting on it. The thing that stuck out the most to Astoria though, was the bottle of Firewhisky in his hand. He took another sip and she walked forward, he had just noticed her. She leaned against one of the pillars, arms crossed. There was a good couple of feet between them.

"Where'd ya get the Firewhiskey Malfoy?" She finally spoke. She chilled a little at his stare. He was looking straight into her eyes, an unknown expression on his face.

"I have my ways." He said, eyes still trained on her, voice dead serious.

"I wasn't aware I would be having this conversation with you drunk?" She asked, leaning her head on the pillar.

Draco looked down at the bottle, "I'm not drunk. I've only had a few sips."

Astoria laughed, "Okay, because I believe that."

Draco looked back at her, a little intrigued, "I didn't think you'd come."

Astoria raised her eyebrow, "Why not?"

At this, Draco stood up, still resting on the railing, "Seemed like you were having fun with Sebastian at dinner." He spit out the name like it was venom.

"It was just a conversation Malfoy. He's a friend, that's all."

Draco took a step closer to her, "Am I a friend?"

Astoria was taken aback by the question, "Do you wanna be?"

"No." He replied simply, taking another step closer.

Astoria backed further into the pillar, "Then why are you here Malfoy?"

Draco was now right in front of her, he looked her right in the eye and said, "Because I want to be much more the friends, Ria."

Astoria held in a breath. Ria? No one had ever called her that before. People called her Astoria or Tori, but never Ria. Although, she found herself liking the way it rolled off his tongue. Oh yes, he could call her Ria any day. Snapping back to reality, she became aware of how close they were.

"What'd you have in mind?" She asked, biting her lip.

Draco placed his hands on the pillar, on opposite sides of her head, caging her in, "I want you, Ria. All of you."

"Why Draco?" She could see his eyes darken when she said his name.

"Because you're all I can fucking think about. I've tried ignoring it, I've tried quitting it. But you're my drug Ria, and I don't wanna stop. I'm hopelessly addicted to you." His forehead was now against hers. Both of them were breathing heavily.

"But Draco… We are nothing alike."

"I disagree."

"But…" Astoria wasn't able to get her next few words out as Draco had suddenly leaned down and pressed their lips together.

Astoria gasped, inadvertently allowing Draco to deepen the kiss by snaking his tongue in her mouth. She decided to let go once again of all coherent thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck. his hands grabbed her waist, pushing her further into the pillar. She ran her hands through his hair, messing it up even more. She moaned, as his hands slid a little up her shirt, grazing her bare skin. After a minute or two, they broke away for air. Draco then immediately started kissing down her neck, just like that night in the common room. Astoria leaned in to his touch this time. Her mind was incredibly hazy. But she eventually started coming around to their senses.

"Draco… we can't…"

"Shhh…" He said, moving back up to her lips, capturing them once again. But Astoria moved her hands to his chest, shoving him away just a bit.

"Draco, I'm serious. What are we doing?"

"It's called snogging, love." He smirked, moving to recapture her lips. However, she once again held him back.

"No Draco. I mean what is this?" She asked, motioning between the two of them.

"C'mon, don't tell me you don't feel the spark to." Draco asked, his voice now husky.

"I do Draco, but… What do you want? I shag buddy? I causal acquaintance? What do you want?"

Draco shoved her back against the pillar, once again closing the space between the two of them, "I want you. I told you that. All of you."

"So you mean like…"

"Like something real. I mean it Ria."

Astoria bit her lip again, unsure. Was he really suggesting they… like… date? She looked down, not meeting his eyes, "Draco… you just don't seem like the relationship type."

Draco reached out and grabbed her chin, gently getting her to look at him, "I'm not the same person I used to be Astoria. And with you… It's just different. You're right, I was never the relationship type. But with you, I can think of nothing I want more than to call you mine. I want nothing more than to show the whole school what a beautiful, smart, amazing girl I'm with."

Astoria blushed, "So you're saying…"

Draco gently pecked her lips, "I'm saying, Astoria Greengrass, will you be my girlfriend?"


A.N: Yay! They're finally moving forward! Hope you liked this chapter. As per usual, reviews are amazing!