Draco arrived at, what she had to guess from looking out the window, early afternoon. He is carrying a paper bag, and he hands it to her. When she opens it, she realizes it's food. Her hunger, which had been dormant before, gnawed at her with new ferocity. It is a sandwich, with a bottle of pumpkin juice. Nothing fancy. Her last meal.
"Thank you. I suppose this is my last meal." Astoria says, forcing false good humor into her voice. "Yeah. Sorry. I didn't know what you liked. I had a sandwich earlier. I thought it was alright, so I brought you one." Draco said.
Draco crosses the room and sits down in the chair. "Alright. Are you going to finish the story?" he asks. Astoria smiles at his eagerness. This was good. "Yes. As promised. After, I eat of course." She begins to eat, rather slowly. A long ten minutes later she still had a quarter of the sandwich left and had not even opened the pumpkin juice. Draco lets out a long, suffering sigh. "Sorry. I'm just trying to savor it. It will be the last meal I will ever eat." Astoria knows she is being a little melodramatic, but Draco seems to appreciate her joke, and her attempt at stalling, because he lets out a small laugh, and says no more about it.
Ten minutes later, after her last slow swallow of pumpkin juice, she could stall no longer.
"The prince, angry at the knight, began to plot ways to destroy him. However, trap after trap he laid. It never worked. The prince knew, that he would have to lay a trap that would lure the knight into trouble. And so, the prince knew of a timid boy that the knight had befriended. This boy had a glass figure, that he loved above all else."
"Like the golden ball?" Draco asks. "No. The golden ball was not a gift. It was a placation. A false happiness. This glass figure was a gift given of love, and so, though not as flashy, it was all the more valuable." Draco frowns and leans back in his chair.
"The prince stole the glass figure from the boy, and climbed the tallest mountain, to place to the figure at the very top. This mountain peak was guarded by a fierce creature, for it was forbidden to climb to such heights. He then taunted the knight. For he had hurt a friend of the knight, and the mountain would be impossible for the timid boy to ever climb."
"But the knight was brave, and talented. And so, he was able to climb the mountain, faster and greater than the prince ever did, and he retrieved the glass figure. But, he was not as stealthy as the prince. And so the guardian of the mountain caught the knight, just as the prince had hoped."
Draco is smirking. Good, thinks Astoria. For she has not yet delivered the final blow.
"However, the guardian, so impressed with the knights skills, gave him a gift. The gift of flight. The knight sprouted beautiful wings and soared from the top of the mountain to the ground below, to adoration of all the people in the land."
Draco crosses his arms. "That's ridiculous. You said the prince was stealthier. Doesn't he get rewarded for besting the knight at that?" Astoria shrugs. "His reward was not being caught by the guardian." Astoria offers. "Sounds like the prince would have been better off being caught." Draco remarks sourly. Astoria laughs. "No, I don't think so. I don't think the guardian would have been as forgiving with the prince."
"Is that the end?" Draco asks. Astoria's heart skipped a beat. "It is the end of the chapter but not the story. I guess you won't get to hear of the cruel, powerful king's folly" Draco, who had been leaning back in his chair, perks with sudden interest. She could tell by the look on his face, he hates himself for being interested, hates himself for hanging on to her every word. She hopes he hates himself for being unable to resist hearing her speak.