Title: Love, Actually
Summary: Astoria wished she could do more for her husband
Pairing/Characters:Astoria/Draco
Rating:K+
Warnings: N/A
Notes:N/A
She watched her young son run around. He was an active little boy, always chasing after butterflies or following the house elves. He was always able to make her smile. Astoria's whole body warmed when she felt her husband behind her.
"He's so beautiful, isn't he," she said softly, still watching her son play.
"He is."
She could hear the smile in her husband's voice and she felt her own smile widen. She was always able to count on her son to bring the smile so rarely seen onto her husband's face.
"He's grown so much in the last few weeks, it's a shame I couldn't be here to see it."
Astoria turned and saw the smile quickly disappear; she could feel her own dimming, though it didn't vanish. She turned back to her son, protecting her husband from feeling vulnerable. "You can't help it, you need to work. Don't feel bad."
There was silence after her plea. She could almost hear Draco thinking and she waited for the typical question.
"Why are you here?"
"It's a nice day," Astoria said lightly. She knew he didn't mean outside, he meant with him. She hated when he became like this, it was hard for her to hear the amount of self-hate her husband possessed.
"You know what I mean, is it pity?"
Astoria closed her eyes sadly, trying to starve off the tears. "Love, actually," she said softly.
The response was immediate and dreadfully familiar, "Anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's like a form of socially acceptable insanity."
Astoria clenched her hands but she wasn't angry at him. No, she was mad at the disgraceful man he grew up with, the one that she hated to think of as his father. "Yet you fell in love, if not with me, with your son."
The silence was the longer than the last. Astoria knew that he couldn't bring his head around that logic. It was so hard for him to dismiss the teachings of his father but he was trying and he was slowly improving.
The sounds of retreating footsteps interrupted her thoughts and she sighed sadly. It wasn't yet the day he would break free from his father's hold, he may never manage it. Astoria only knew that she wouldn't stop trying, not until the end.
(w.c 430)
WolfWinks-xx-
