Do You Want To Talk?

"Will you be alright by yourself?" Draco asked nervously. "I don't mind staying, you know."

Astoria was touched. "But where will you sleep?" she asked. Draco shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. On the sofa, maybe," he suggested.

"Don't be silly. You'll freeze," Astoria scolded lightly.

"Well, where then? There's only one bed," Draco pointed out.

"I guess we'll have to share it, then," Astoria replied nonchalantly. Draco gaped at her.

"Astoria, be serious," he said sternly. Astoria raised her eyebrows and calmly folded her arms.

"I am, Draco. I'm trying to be practical here," she replied tartly. "If you have any doubts about your ability to keep your hands to yourself, I think I can take care of that."

"What do you mean, you can take care of it?" Draco questioned. For an answer, Astoria pulled her wand out and waved it over the bed. Draco watched as the bed split itself in two.

"You didn't really think I'd sleep in the same bed as you?" Astoria asked, giggling. "No offence, Draco, but you're not that desirable."

"I can think of at least a dozen people who would argue otherwise," Draco replied confidently, leaning against the wall. Astoria raised her eyebrows.

"Your ego doesn't count as a person, Draco," she quipped easily. Draco merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, give it a few days. I might be able to convince you to change your mind," he answered.

Astoria rolled her eyes. "It's late, and I'm tired. I'm going to bed," she said curtly.

"Want a bedtime story?" Draco offered, grinning cheekily. Astoria scowled.

"I can manage, thanks," she replied somewhat sarcastically, pulling a book out of her bag. Draco tilted his head slightly in order to read the title.

"The Arabian Nights?" he asked, meeting Astoria's annoyed gaze. "Another muggle story?"

"Actually, Draco," Astoria replied irritably, "The Arabian Nights is a collection of muggle folk stories, and a very good collection, at that. Of course, if you read something other than pureblood propaganda once in a while, you might know that." With that, she conjured a curtain around one of the beds and disappeared behind it.

"Geez, Astoria. Anyone would think you were mad at me," Draco muttered under his breath.

"I am mad at you," Astoria retorted from behind the curtain. "Now get your egotistical arse into bed and go! To! Sleep!"

It took Astoria a long time to get to sleep. Just as she could feel herself beginning to doze off, she jerked awake. She could hear someone yelling out in the street.

"Tori! I wanna talk to yeh!" the words came out slurred. Astoria leapt out of bed and raced over to the window.

"Anthony?" she asked, pushing the window open.

"Yeh've gotta listen to me. I gotta talk to yeh," Anthony slurred.

"Shush!" she hissed anxiously. "Stay right there, I'll be down in a minute." She dressed as quickly as she could and raced outside to meet him.

"Anthony? What's the matter?" she asked gently. She recoiled at the stench of alcohol on his breath.

"How can yeh abandon me at a time like this, Tori?" Anthony demanded. Astoria wrinkled her nose.

"You've been drinking, haven't you?" Astoria asked quietly.

"Darn righ' I 'ave. Yeh've gotta listen," Anthony answered.

"Keep your voice down!" Astoria whispered. "Come upstairs with me; I'll call your Dad and he can pick you up."

Astoria led Anthony up to her hotel room, begging him to be quiet.

"Here, take this," she said quietly, offering him a glass containing a pale green liquid.

"I'm not drinkin' tha'!" Anthony protested.

"Anthony, please be quiet. It's a Sobering Solution. I promise you, it will not have any harmful effects," Astoria muttered. "Please, just drink it."

Anthony finally relented and took a sip. Astoria seemed satisfied and, after an anxious glance at the bed to see if Draco was still asleep, picked up the telephone.

Draco woke up and heard Astoria muttering, apparently to herself. A discreet glance in her direction told him she was talking to someone on the telephone.

"...Astoria Greengrass. I'm so sorry to bother you at this hour, but I have Anthony here, and he's in a right state... Yes, I'm certain he's been drinking... I've given him something to sober him up a bit, but I think he's too drunk for it to work completely... Could you? I wouldn't mind normally, but I really can't let him stay tonight... Alright, I'll keep an eye on him until you get here," Astoria murmured anxiously. Draco watched her hang up the telephone and walk over to a young man whom he recognised as Astoria's friend, Anthony.

"Feeling better?" she asked softly. Anthony groaned.

"Not really," he muttered, holding a hand to his forehead.

"Your dad said he'll be here in ten minutes. Here, you look like you need this," she said, handing him a glass of water.

"Thanks," Anthony replied ruefully. Draco shut his eyes abruptly, pretending to be asleep. "What time is it, anyway?"

"About one in the morning. You're a very stubborn drunk, you know that?" Astoria answered, then recoiled slightly as Anthony sighed. "Ugh, no offence Anthony, but your breath stinks!"

There was an awkward silence. After a few minutes, Draco heard a car pull up outside.

"That'll be your dad," Astoria said. "Listen, Anthony, I'm truly sorry about yesterday, but I really don't have a choice. If I refused to obey, and they found out, they could hurt my parents very badly, or worse, come after you," she explained.

"I think I understand, Tori. I'll miss you. And Daphne, too," Anthony replied as Astoria opened the door to let him out. After a minute or so, she sighed and climbed back into bed. Draco thought he could hear her crying as she pulled the curtains back around her. He hesitated for almost an entire minute, before he crawled out of his bed and made his way over to her. He pulled the curtain back and felt his heart tug as he saw Astoria curled up in a tight ball. He gingerly placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look up at him, startled.

"Do you want to talk, Astoria?" Draco asked softly.

Astoria did not answer. She continued staring at Draco for a long time. After several minutes, she shook her head. Draco sighed.

"Look, it's quite obvious you aren't going to get much sleep tonight. It's also obvious that you're upset. At least tell me what's wrong," he murmured. "It might help you feel better, you know, to get it off your chest."

Finally, Astoria relented and sat up, wiping her eyes furiously. Draco sat gingerly on the edge of her bed and pulled her close, so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"I'm scared, Draco," Astoria confessed. "Merlin knows what's happening to my parents right now. I don't even know if they're still alive. In the back of my mind, there's always this niggling fear that I'll never see them again. You have no idea what that's like."

Draco stiffened slightly. "I have every idea what it's like, Astoria," he growled. Astoria looked up at him, mildly surprised. "I had to put up with threats against my family, all of last year. And they came from you-know-who himself," he added bitterly. "I've seen first hand what he's capable of, Astoria, and I wanted nothing to do with it. But what could I do? He was going to kill my whole family if I didn't do as I was told!"

Astoria felt a little ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," she muttered. Draco smiled sadly at her.

"It's alright. I didn't exactly announce the fact to the whole world," he replied. "I guess I was too proud. I didn't want to admit the fact that I was bloody terrified, so instead, I put on a show of bravado, and pretended that the threats and insults didn't bother me."

There was a slightly awkward silence. Astoria stared at the bedlinen, unsure of what to say next. It was Draco who eventually broke the silence.

"You know, I even envied you, Astoria," he confessed. "You and Daphne have never felt the need to hide who you truly are. Do you realise how rare that is in a House like ours?"

Astoria gave a wry smile. "Yes, I do. Why do you think I prefer to keep to myself at school?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"And here I thought it was just because you liked reading too much," he half-joked. Astoria let out a shaky laugh.

"Well, that too," she admitted with a grin. She stifled a yawn with her hand. "Thanks, Draco. You were right; I do feel a bit better," she said sleepily.

OMG! I LOVE YOU ALL! PLEASE MARRY ME!

Okay, craziness aside, you guys have been great. Seriously, I must be doing something right. It's almost scary, how many people are reading this story now (wipes sweat off brow).

I'll be blatantly honest with you. This story started out purely because I was frustrated by writer's block while trying to write my story Unforgivable. But your wonderful reviews and subscriptions have spurred me on to try and write the rest of the story. I just hope I don't disappoint :P