Draco awoke slowly at first, but upon remembering the events of last night, he sat up quickly. I've really gotten myself into it this time. He rubbed his eyes as the stack of ignored presents came into focus. Right. He rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, and then swung his feet over the side of the bed. Looking out the window told him the sun was just rising, which meant it was around 7am. He approached the pile of presents and then paused to see if he could hear his parents. Satisfied all was quiet, Draco began unwrapping. He got potions ingredients and various wizard's treats from Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade from his friends, some new books from his mother (he was sure his father hadn't approved of), and a new winter cloak from both his parents. He put all his presents away in his wardrobe and put the new potion ingredients in his trunk to take back to school. He knew his father had no issue restocking his own ingredients, so he figured he'd save his own for Severus' class. With the presents sorted, he realized he still owed Pansy an explanation for disappearing last night. Groaning a little, he took some parchment and wrote quickly how he had felt ill after dinner and hadn't wanted to expose her to anything. He knew playing it off as concern for her would appeal to her more than pitying himself. Signing off with yet another apology, he cast a subtle cheering charm on the parchment to speed up her forgiveness of him.
"Tiki," he said, voice a little hoarse from last night's antics, "come here."
She appeared in a flash, slightly concerned after witnessing him flee the manor the previous night.
"Yes, little Master?"
"I need you to send this letter off for me. Send the…prettiest owl we have."
Tiki looked slightly confused before saying "of course, sir", but Draco could tell she was struggling to hold back a grin.
"Thanks, Tiki. Thanks for the present, too. Acromantula venom is quite rare, how did you manage to get your hands on it?"
Tiki beamed at the recognition before saying, "it was no problem at all, sir! Tiki is knowing of some elves who were more than happy to help her out."
Draco smirked at the elf's vagueness, he assumed she didn't want to get her contact into trouble and so he didn't question her further.
"Fascinating, truly," he said with fake indifference, but he could tell she didn't buy it. She nodded once, and with note in hand, snapped her fingers and vanished.
Draco shook his head and sighed. Moments later, however, Tiki reappeared wringing her hands.
Draco raised an eyebrow, not sure what else she was expecting but not wanting to be rude, he owed the elf a lot.
"Master Malfoy wishes to see you downstairs, sir."
Draco felt his heart rate pick up slightly, but it wasn't enough to interfere with his image. "For any particular reason?" he drawled.
Tiki shrugged slightly, before adding "Mistress is present, too."
Draco felt a little relief at those words". I'm not sure what matter would concern the both of them. Draco nodded his thanks and left the room before he could overthink the request anymore.
Breezing down the stairs, Draco took care to put his mask into place. He found that when he felt he had to exude cool confidence, he tricked himself into feeling it. He assumed his parents would be in the study and didn't allow himself to hesitate before the door. Hesitation was weakness and he would not allow that today.
Stepping into the study, Draco found his father seated and his mother standing off his shoulder. "At least he can't make any surprise moves seated behind his desk. Draco nodded in greeting to both his parents before smoothly walking over to the chair across his father's. He took his time settling into it, aware of his father's eyes watching his every movement. His mother radiated a cool indifference. He was sure this wasn't about his disappearance last night; his mother definitely had not noticed due to the socializations of the night and his father had been impressed by Astoria's excuse.
The silence pressed for a few long seconds, but Draco did not want to be the one to break it. He stared evenly back at his father, waiting for an explanation. They didn't often have scheduled family meetings, and although his memories of past incidents in this room were suffocating him, he was determined not to let it show. I've done nothing to upset him. This must concern something besides me, or mother would not be involved.
"Draco," Lucius purred, finally breaking the silence, "did you enjoy the formalities last night?"
Draco nodded, not missing a beat. "Of course, sir. I thought the evening went quite well. Were you pleased?" He learned that flipping the conversation back to his father took the attention off himself.
"I would agree, the party was quite a success. Pity, though, Miss. Parkinson seemed awfully distressed by your absence for the second half of the evening."
"Oh, enough small talk already," Narcissa cut in, never one to spend more time with her family than necessary if it was not serving to improve her reputation. "Get on with it, Lucius."
Lucius' lips formed into a tight smile at Narcissa's interruption. He liked to be the one in control and did not appreciate his wife's clipped tone. He flicked his eyes to the side, regarding her, as he drawled "patience, Narcissa."
She made no move to reply so Lucius turned his attention back to Draco. "Very well. We received an interesting request of you last night, Draco."
Draco blinked, but did not try to fill in an answer. He had no idea what his father was alluding to and knew he would find out shortly anyways, so he saved his breath.
Lucius sighed before continuing. "We know how you've been neglecting your studies since you arrived home," he began, his tight expression twitching into something akin to a smirk.
Draco went to object, but Lucius held up a finger to silence him, so Draco decided not to cause more trouble than necessary. Lucius took his silence for agreement.
"It was brought to our attention last night that one of your fellow students has been struggling with.. certain material at Hogwarts."
Draco's interest was piqued. A Sacred Twenty-Eight who was willing to admit they needed help? He nodded to show he was listening.
"You see, her parents are quite concerned she'll fall behind. When they told us of their plight we immediately boasted about your advanced skill in Potions, and it was agreed by both sides that tutoring would help both parties. You help this student, while also giving you something to do besides rot away over break."
Draco resented the implication he needed to be kept busy, but then considered the rest of his father's words. A Sacred Twenty-Eight, struggling with potions… oh no.
Draco put it together at the same time Narcissa moved to elaborate. "Tutoring Astoria will give our family a chance to build an alliance with the Greengrass family. Her Ravenclaw residence is a sore spot for the family, and hopefully your presence will have a positive impact. Play your part, Draco, and you will be rewarded."
Lucius saw this as a chance to cut in. He stood from his seat slightly, put both hands on his desk, and leaned over until he was inches from Draco's face. "If you manage to mess this up, however…"
Lucius let the threat hang in the air. The unfinished sentence was more powerful; Draco had a list of memories he could use to fill in. He was determined not to let his father get to him.
"Of course, I will be happy to help in the development of a relationship between us and the Greengrass family." Draco finally answered, although it was really his only option. Not that I have any resentment toward helping her, he thought, I'm just not sure how I can help her.
"Excellent!" Narcissa remarked. "Since only a week remains in your break, you will meet for two hours every other day to catch her up. Once school starts we can discuss what form the tutoring will take."
Draco nodded again. "When will we start?"
"3pm."
Draco paused, then asked, "today?"
"Yes, Draco, unless that'll be a problem for you?"
"No, sir, of course not." Draco should've known there would be a catch.
"I thought so," Lucius said quietly. "Seeing as it is already 9:00am, I think it would be wise if you started to prepare for your day. You should be ready for Astoria's arrival by 1:30 and you should invite her to dinner afterwards."
Draco nodded slowly, now a bit preoccupied. What am I even going to say to Astoria? How am I supposed to act?
He realized both his parents were staring at him expectantly. Right, I've been dismissed. Draco nodded again, stood up, and left to go eat breakfast. He was confident he could take on 3rd year potions work, and if he couldn't, he would just tell Severus he was helping Astoria, which would raise her grade anyways. He was more bothered by how he had last left things with Astoria. He hadn't even gotten the chance to thank her properly once he got inside. Is she expecting me to thank her now? Draco let out a long sigh. He was not good with things like gratitude.
He arrived in the kitchen to see Tiki had already made him a plate. He ate without paying too much attention to what was actually on his plate. He figured the best way to prepare was to look through his old notes, but beyond that, he was just going to wait and see what she needed help with. Finishing his meal, he left the kitchen and headed back upstairs to get ready. He showered, got dressed, and was interrupted by a tapping on the window. An owl flew in, with a piece of parchment attached to its foot. Already knowing what he was about to read, Draco opened the note with little interest.
Draco,
I must admit I was SO upset because I thought you abandoned me, but then I thought back to dinner and realized you had started looking ill at the end. It was so sweet of you to save me the pain of exposure! You really do know what's best for me. I miss you already and can't wait to fill you in on everything you missed during the second half of the evening. Two words: dra-ma!
Yours,
Pansy
Draco mulled over the letter for a second. "She's so…simple. Shrugging slightly, he tossed the letter in his trash can and sent the owl back out the window. He didn't care what Pansy had to fill him in on, he just needed to make sure their friendship was still intact. His parents were quite fond of her and he needed whatever strategies he could to win them over.
Approaching his school trunk, he dug through it and found his notes from the 3rd year. Girding potion, confusion concoction, shrinking solution, and undetectable poisons. All interesting. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to help her with this, again, but he would find out soon enough. He was leaving his room to go downstairs when he caught his own eye in his reflection.
His cheek was slightly purple from where his father had slapped him the night before. He summoned a cream from the bathroom without thinking and applied it to the spot. Seconds later, the spot vanished, and he looked normal. He looked into his own eyes for a minute, watching his face become impassive, before strolling from the room and heading downstairs. He passed the time pacing in their entryway, but before he knew it there was a knock at the door and Tiki had appeared to answer it.
"Hello, miss and little miss, is it Master Draco that you is here to see?"
The voice on the other side of the door said something, causing Tiki to bow lowly, as Astoria and her mother entered the house.
"Ah, Draco, long time no see," Mrs. Greengrass cooed, "thanks again for agreeing to tutor our Astoria. We can't express our gratitude enough."
Draco smirked slightly before replying, "it's no trouble at all, Mrs. Greengrass. I look forward to the opportunity to improve my own skills as well."
"Such a gentleman!" Mrs. Greengrass roared, but Astoria was still staring at him, unblinking, as she had been when she first entered the room. Draco tried not to focus on it as he heard his own mother walk in.
"Faye, how lovely to see you again so soon!" Narcissa exclaimed, taking Mrs. Greengrass by the arm. "Please come on in, can I get you a cup of tea?"
The two mothers continued their small talk until they were out of earshot, leaving Draco and Astoria alone.
"So, Astoria, we can go upstairs if you'd like?" Draco asked, one eyebrow raised in interest at the small girl.
She nodded and followed him upstairs. The two didn't talk until they entered Draco's potions lab. He was sure they'd be left alone here. Once he shut the door behind him, he turned to regard baby Greengrass more closely. Although she looked much younger without the dress and makeup, she had a certain weariness about her…her eyes looked much older than the rest of her body. Realizing he was staring, he shook his head slightly. Now was not the time to freak the girl out.
"So," he started at the same time she went to say "well-".
They both laughed slightly at the awkwardness, and she took the chance to say "you first".
"Well, what do you need help with?"
She considered him for a moment before answering, "I don't, really."
He just blinked at her. "What?
"I understand all the material," she went on to say, "but Snape won't give me full marks because I refuse to put up with his antics."
Draco raised an eyebrow at that. "So what, pray tell, is my role here?"
She shrugged slightly and said, "I figured having you tutor me would force Snape to give me higher grades, considering you're his godson."
How…cunning.
"I thought of this all before last night, of course" she said hurriedly, as if she was afraid she was hurting his feelings.
"It doesn't matter to me," he said, instead of addressing the events of the previous night.
There was a brief, uncomfortable silence before she tried again. "About last night…"
This can't be happening right now, Draco thought to himself, my father could be listening. This could all be one big trap to test my allegiance to him. See if I tell the innocent girl. Well, I'll show him.
"Astoria," Draco drawled, purposely being a little louder than necessary, "I already told you I was happy to help with your headache. There is no need to express your gratitude again."
She looked around, as if searching for a reason why he would raise his voice. Well of course she wouldn't understand having to hide in your own home, he thought bitterly, her parents accept her for the Ravenclaw she is.
"So, enough of that," he said with a note of finality, "let's get started on the work you brought."
It ended up being an essay on the history of shrinking solutions. Astoria wrote tirelessly as Draco rattled off a fact here and there to sound like he was contributing, but he could see what she meant earlier. His presence was not helping Astoria at all and he wasn't entirely convinced about her earlier claim to only be here in an attempt to get on Snape's good side. I need to find out more information about this girl.
"Let's take a break," Draco suggested about an hour into their session. Astoria finished her sentence without looking up, and then set her quill down.
"Alright. What do you suggest?"
"A question for a question. It occurs to me how little I know about you, baby Greengrass."
Astoria made a face. "Let's start with how much I dislike that nickname."
Draco nodded, aware it was a childish thing to say, but it did tell him about how Astoria felt being compared to Daphne.
"Alright, me first," Astoria said, catching Draco by surprise. "Why do you have so many dreamless sleep potions on that shelf over there?"
Draco did his best not to whip his head around to face the direction she indicated. Shit. Carefully deciding how to answer, he realized he couldn't lie this early on and expect truthful answers in return. "To avoid nightmares that may come my way," he answered evasively. "Do you prefer Hogwarts or being home?" he asked her.
"Hogwarts," Astoria answered without hesitation. That was interesting, too. Maybe her parents aren't as happy with her as she pretends. He wasn't dumb enough to believe that parents weren't what they appeared to be in public.
"Why were you outside last night?" she questioned, and Draco felt a flare of annoyance at her stubbornness, but he also felt something different…like he couldn't believe Astoria actually cared enough to ask more than once.
Nevertheless, he couldn't comply to her will on this matter. "I think I already made it clear that I was helping you with your headache," Draco said darkly, "but I'll let you ask another question instead."
Astoria nodded thoughtfully before asking, "do you like Snape?"
Draco thought about it before answering, "I am not blind to his faults, but he is my godfather." Again, he didn't commit to a yes or a no.
"Do you wish you were a Slytherin?"
"Not really, no," she answered. "Why do you hate Harry Potter so much?"
Draco scoffed, "seriously? He's stuck-up, arrogant, and contradicts everything I stand for."
"So, you'd say your values align with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
Draco crossed his arms defensively as that same dark look flashed through his eyes. Instead of replying, he bit out, "let's get back to potions."
She stared at him for a moment before nodding to herself and picking up her quill once more.
Just because I hate Harry doesn't make me a Death Eater, he thought angrily to himself. He's just a bloody prick, and I wouldn't mind seeing him get taken down a peg, but that's not the same as being a supporter of the Dark Lord…is it?
For the remaining 45 minutes, Draco's leg bounced irritably as he watched Astoria write. "The girl hardly knows me, he assured himself, there was no truth to her words. Despite this, Draco couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled on him ever since the Ravenclaw had asked her follow-up question. I simply cannot wait to see what rash comments she proceeds to make at dinner.

xXx

Hey guys, just wanted to add a quick shout out to Carlaeme26 for pointing out this chapter uploaded in code, sorry about that! I can't believe you read it like that and seriously appreciate the support!