House: Slytherin

Position: Year 4

Category: Additional

Prompt: Returning home after a long trip

Word Count: 1175

Warning: Light swearing

oO0Oo

"Hello?" Draco pushed open the door to the Manor, and it opened on silent hinges. It had been a long, not entirely successful business trip, and he was eager to see his lovely wife again. "Astoria? Where are you, love?" Yet the inside of the house was dark and devoid of life. "Astoria?"

With a sudden crack, a House Elf appeared before Draco. "Master Draco has come back," it said, wringing its hands. "Quincy is a bad elf, Quincy should be punished, Quincy is a bad bad elf!" It charged forward, ramming its head into the wall.

"Quincy, just stop." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me where Astoria is."

Yet if anything, the elf's eyes only grew wider. "Mistress- Mistress Astoria be gone, Master Draco. She said she would not come back."

Draco froze. "She's… gone?" The word felt strange on his tongue.

"She go when you did go, Master Draco."

"That- that was weeks ago," Draco said, staggering to the nearest chair and collapsing into it. "What did she take with her? Actually, never mind, just bring me a bottle of Ogden's finest. And get Blaise."

"Quincy will be doing that, Quincy will be owling Mister Blaise right away." The elf bowed low, then scurried off.

Before the elf had even disappeared from sight, Draco was already turning around and trudging to his bedroom. Yet when he entered, he found it bare, for Astoria had stripped it of almost everything of value.

He couldn't deal with that at the moment. It was just too much. With a sigh, Draco turned around and began to make his way back to the front door. He'd spend the night at Theo's house, and maybe also get roaring drunk, and then he'd deal with this problem in the morning… but just as he was pulling on his boots, Blaise appeared outside the gates with a loud crack.

"Oh no," Blaise said, grabbing Draco's arm and dragging him away from the apparition point. "I know that look in your eye, mate, and it never leads to anything good. What happened?"

Draco snorted. "What didn't happen? Astoria's left me, Blaise, I don't even know why, but she's gone."

For a long second, Blaise simply looked at him; then, he nodded. "You really did love her," his friend said.

"The woman I loved wouldn't have left me," Draco spat, twisting out of Blaise's grip. "Now let go of me. I'm going to Theo's to get smashed and I'll deal with this tomorrow." He pushed past his friend.

But Blaise only grabbed Draco's robes and yanked him back. "I don't know why I bother, but I'm not going to let you bloody destroy yourself. Not over Astoria." His friend's expression softened. "C'mon, Draco. Let's go back to my house. I've got some alcohol there, and hey, you're welcome to stay as long as you need."

"But- but what about your wife? Your children?"

Blaise laughed. "My wife and I are having a romantic evening together; the brats are at Theo's, playing with his own kids. Come on, Draco." He tugged his friend with him to the apparition point. "I'll Side-Along you, because in the state you're in, you're liable to splinch yourself."

Crack.

Thus, Draco was standing before Blaise's home before he could form a protest. However, as his friend tried to lead him indoors, he said, "But Blaise- I don't want to ruin your evening with Lovegood."

"She's a Zabini now, you ignorant asshole, get that right," Blaise quipped. "Now come on in. I know she won't mind. She was friendly with you wife, too, so maybe she knows why Astoria left."

"Maybe," Draco said. "But thinking about Astoria hurts."

Blaise grinned. "Luna's wonderful at making your forget your pain, Draco. I don't know how the woman does it, but she's a fucking marvel."

Draco grimaced. "I don't want to know the kinky things you two do in the bedroom."

"No, not that," Blaise said with a soft snort. "Although that's always nice. No, what I mean is that there's something in the way that she listens to you talk and gives her quiet acceptance that's soothing. You remember how fucked up I was because of all the stepfathers I had, most of whom treated me like shite?"

Draco nodded. It would have been very hard to forget that.

"Well, when I started dating her and we started talking about our respective pasts and I finally opened up and told her about all the fuckery my mom put me through with all those husbands, it just felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders." He clapped Draco on the arm. "And now, we use my wife's magical powers of perception to help you. So come on." Blaise threw open the door. "Luna? Where are you?"

"In the kitchen," came the musical reply. "But I'll meet you in the dining room."

In the dining room, on the polished mahogany table, sat three bottles: one of Ogden's finest, one of chardonnay, and one of milk.

"What a peculiar selection of drinks," Draco said as he sat down.

Blaise laughed. "This one's for you, mate," he said, passing the milk to Draco.

Luna entered the room. "No, it's not," she chided her husband, plucking the bottle from Blaise's grasp and placing it before the only open seat that remained. "It's mine, because drinking milk is good for an expectant mother."

Blaise froze. "Wait- wait- you're pregnant again?"

"I think so," Luna replied. "The flibberworts are gathering again, and they only gather in areas of extreme fertility."

"Oh." Blaise grabbed the bottle of Ogden's finest and took a deep swig. "Thanks, Draco. This one was supposed to be yours, but I needed it."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm glad to be of service." He took the chardonnay and poured himself a bit. "This vintage, though, is decidedly subpar."

"Oi," Blaise said. "I didn't bring you here to critique my wine selection. I brought you here to talk to my wife, because she has these magical powers of making you feel better."

After taking a sip of the chardonnay and wrinkling his nose at its flavor, Draco nodded. "Yes, let's each stick to our own. I'll pick fine wines, you and Luna help me get over Astoria."

Luna spoke. "It's not 'getting over' her," she said, then took a small sip of milk. "It's accepting that she doesn't want to live with you anymore, and that somewhere, the two of you stumbled."

"Acceptance? What will acceptance do me?"

"A lot," Luna said seriously. "It's only then that you can start to heal."

Oddly enough, Draco already felt better, just from hearing her say that. Perhaps with Luna's help, he would be able to accept that Astoria had left him, and then move on with his life. "I never said this," he said, "but thanks for doing this, Blaise. And thank you, Luna."

"Of course," she replied. "Now, put yourself in Astoria's shoes. If you were her, why would you leave?"