A/N: Evening, all! Here's another chapter for you - bit of bed time (or any other time, depending where you are in the world) reading :)

Your reviews were very welcomely received once again - thank you! I'm getting the impression that a lot of you are annoyed with how irrational and generally Malfoy-like Draco is being. Sorry about that folks, he's on a learning curve but he'll get there eventually (we hope).

Have a great week. Bea x

Chapter Eight: Bringing Sexy Back

"Ron is completely jealous, not that he'll admit it." Hermione said disapprovingly. She, Ginny, and Arianwen were seated comfortably at the bar adjacent to the main ballroom where the Ministry's May Ball was in full swing, and the girls were hounding Arianwen for the latest gossip.

"Harry is too." Ginny chimed in. "He was jealous enough when I started playing in the league, let alone Malfoy! And the papers seem to be warming to him too."

"Yeah it helps when he keeps winning, I just hope they can keep their momentum up." The welsh woman sounded worried, causing the other two to exchange knowing glances.

"So was he happy to see you at his first match?" Hermione probed carefully.

Arianwen chewed the edge of her cheek as she tried to figure out if he had been pleased or not. "I honestly don't know, it was a bit of a weird situation."

Ginny leaned forward, martini in hand. "Weird how?"

"Well I took Llewyn down to their changing rooms to surprise Draco, and when I went in he was only half finished getting dressed-"

"Ooh which half? We need details please!" The redhead interrupted eagerly.

"His top half!" Arianwen squeaked, blushing. "And then he picked Llewyn up, and he's really bulked up recently you know, and the two of them are always so excited to see each other, it was so cute-"

"I'm surprised your ovaries didn't explode then and there!" Hermione teased, gaining an appreciative cackle from Ginny.

"Honestly I thought I was going to burst! And then I was in such a tiz that I literally ran out and then he came and found me later and I started CRYING! What the hell is wrong with me?!" The blonde moaned into her hands.

The girls looked visibly pained, empathising with Arianwen's moment of panic as if it had been them embarrassing themselves in front of their ex. "Oh Merlin, you cried? Why?" Ginny questioned, trying to stifle her laughter.

"I don't know, I just got all emotional, he's been doing so well lately-"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're such a sap." Hermione gave her a pointed look but Ginny ignored her, she wasn't as close with Arianwen as Ginny was and didn't know how high Arianwen's tolerance for teasing was.

"So what did he do when you started crying?" Hermione asked, looking sympathetically at her friend.

"He was lovely as always," Ginny snorted disbelievingly but Arianwen ignored her and carried on, "gave me a hug and said something about finding me adorable."

Ginny's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Adorable? Like some kind of pet?"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," Hermione cut in quickly. "And how has it been since then?"

Arianwen shrugged. "Well it ended on a weird note, and ever since then he's just been a bit off with me."

"So this was what, two or three weeks ago?" Ginny asked thoughtfully. Arianwen nodded the affirmative. "And have you been making it clear that you want him back?"

The blonde sat up straight in her chair. "Who said I want him back?"

The two exchanged glances again. "It's kind of obvious, to be honest." Hermione said in an almost apologetic tone.

"Ucgh." Arianwen took a large gulp of her cocktail. She was about to say something scathing in response when a presence at the bar had all three women momentarily frozen in their seats.

Draco didn't notice them at first, ordering a whiskey sour and a large glass of elderberry wine, though when he leaned his back against the bar and quietly surveyed the room, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the three women staring to his right. "Arianwen!" He greeted in surprise, his expression a little tense. He looked behind him, then back again, and said: "I didn't realise you were coming. You look nice."

"Uh, thanks?" She said, unsure. He pulled on his collar awkwardly and a minute later Arianwen realised why. An arm had snaked its way around Draco's, followed by a wealthy accent saying in honeyed tones: "Ah, Arianwen, long time no see. I trust you've been keeping well?"

All three women gaped at the couple in front of them. So many thoughts and questions had exploded in Arianwen's mind that she forgot to respond, too focused on the dark cloud that was quickly consuming her good mood. When the silence had dragged on longer than was comfortable, Ginny elbowed her into speaking. "Ahem," the blonde cleared her throat, then as if this new revelation had been completely ordinary, said in a business-like tone. "Yes, very well thank you." She didn't bother to ask how Astoria was, uninterested in the response, and moved her eyes slowly onto Draco - her expression sending cool chills down his spine - and twitched an eyebrow upwards questioningly.

"I was going to tell you last week but you were in a rush." He said quickly. Astoria drew her body closer to him, causing Arianwen's lip to curl ever so slightly, a move only Draco noticed.

"Not a problem, I'm sure there were absolutely no other opportunities. I hope you both enjoy your evening." She said smoothly, and twisted her body delicately to the right, informing them that they had been dismissed.

"Honestly!" Astoria complained loudly as Draco pulled her away, muttering for her to be quiet.

Hermione and Ginny watched Arianwen's expression change from polite indifference to complete fury within seconds of the new couple returning to the ballroom. "What the fuck." Was all she could say.

Ginny shook her head bitterly. "He never ceases to amaze me. I actually can't believe he just brought her here, knowing full well that you'd be coming! And that BS about him trying to tell you - what a coward!"

Despite agreeing with everything Ginny had just said, Arianwen couldn't help but snap back: "He's not a coward!"

Hermione held her hands up in a 'calm down' gesture, to which Arianwen responded with a sniff, and looked around for some way to save the conversation. "Well it looks like you have some competition. What are you going to do?"

Arianwen was about to say she didn't know when Ginny cut in. "She's going to show him exactly what he's missing!"

The blonde laughed despairingly, rubbing her temples. "How am I meant to do that? He said I look 'nice'!"

The younger woman looked her up and down, her nose wrinkling in disgust for the second time that evening. "Yeah that's a massive overstatement, you look like a frumpy housewife."

Hermione was astounded. "Ginny! Not helping!"

"No it's okay," Arianwen patted Hermione's hand reassuringly, then looked determinedly back at Ginny. "What do I have to do?"

Draco's mind was buzzing happily under the influence of a few too many drinks. He was at Blaise's mother's latest engagement party but had managed to escape with the younger crowd to the smoking room at the back of the house. Astoria had insisted she go with him as his date but had left his side pretty quickly to go and chat with her old school friends, and as he didn't feel much like socialising he found himself sitting alone on a lumpy leather armchair in the corner.

The ice cubes clinked against the walls of the whiskey glass as he swirled its contents around absentmindedly, eyes and thoughts trained instead on the radiant blonde he'd managed to alienate yet again. She laughed prettily at a joke Gwyn made, and in allowing him to put his arm over her shoulders, looked more comfortable in his presence than ever. To his utmost frustration, she'd dressed much more daringly than usual and wore a long merlot coloured dress that was tight around her chest, waist, and hips, revealing that deliciously curved silhouette that could drive him into complete despair. Thankfully though, she'd worn her hair up in it's usual smooth knot, so he didn't have to face his frequent fantasy of running his hands through her hair, pushing it to the side slightly as he placed tantalisingly slow kisses in a trail along her neck-

"Alright mate?" Blaise's velvety voice asked as he flumped himself down in the chair next to Draco's. The blonde tore his eyes reluctantly from Arianwen; he'd just been at the part where she was going to start undoing her dress, her soft green eyes asking him to finish what she'd started.

"Yeah, not too bad, you?" He finally responded.

Blaise shrugged nonchalantly. "Good enough. Just trying to avoid my mother, really. You'd have thought she'd be over the whole 'bridezilla' thing by now."

Draco snorted and fixed his old friend with a wry smile. "Well I think you'll be pretty safe over here, I haven't had any human contact in at least an hour."

It was Blaise's turn to snort. He looked Draco up and down; he always had a way about him, an heir that allowed any piece of furniture to look as though it was unworthy to have his arse sat upon it. Even now, with his body slumped, his tie forgotten and his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, the Malfoy heir still looked like some kind of displaced prince.

"You gonna' show up to this wedding this time then?" He asked, his tone playful. Though Blaise's wedding taken place years ago it didn't stop Draco from squirming internally: he'd made Arianwen go to Blaise's wedding alone while he went out on another drug-fuelled binge.

Rather than continue to wallow in his past mistakes though, he responded in kind. "Ahh I dunno', is there much point or should I just show up for the funeral?"

A deep belly-laugh escaped Blaise's lips, his mother's numerous past husbands had a habit of dying a year or so after she'd married them. Draco smirked, pleased that his relationship with his best friend could be repaired so easily.

"So," Blaise began innocently, "which name should I put down as your date for the wedding?"

Draco didn't make eye contact. "Astoria, I would imagine."

Blaise's eyes followed the path that Draco's gaze had created, landing foreseeably on a certain Arianwen Gwydion. "Or you could stop playing games and bring the girl you really want."

Draco scoffed, looking down at his hands. "She doesn't want me, not after everything." He admitted, his voice betraying more emotion than he would've liked.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Blaise said simply, watching Arianwen approach the doors to the patio. "Go and talk to her."

"And say what?" Draco shook his head. "There's nothing left for me there. Besides, I've moving on, there's no sense in taking a step backwards now."

Blaise fixed his friend with a pointed stare. "Moving on? You're never going to be able to move on from that one, mate."

Draco sighed, there was no point arguing with Blaise when he thought he was right. Pushing himself up from the chair, he muttered that he'd be back and then followed in Arianwen's wake.

He found her on the patio, holding the stem of a champagne glass to her chest and titling her head from side to side, gazing into the sky.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, coming to stand next to her and copying the motion of her head.

"Trying to find the dragon." Her voice was soft, unguarded; entirely different to how she'd sounded at the May Ball. She stopped tracing constellations and looked at the man in front of her instead. "Found him," she said with a little smile.

He chuckled at her pun: the dragon constellation holding the same name as his own. "So cheesy."

"I try."

He could never understand how she could be so pleasant to him after he'd fucked up, it was one of her many endearing qualities. He just wished he didn't need to rely on it so much.

"I'm sorry."

She sighed and finished off her champagne, placing the empty glass down on an unnecessarily ornate garden table, where it vanished instantaneously. "What if I'd brought Llewyn, would that have been how he'd have to find out that you have a girlfriend?"

How did she know that Astoria was his girlfriend? Bloody gossipers! He thought angrily.

"I know. I've fucked it once again," his tone was bitter, "but in my defence it's not something that's easy to tell you - either of you."

Arianwen crossed her arms over her chest. "That's a shit defence."

"Yeah," he agreed in defeat. He looked deep into her eyes, finding obvious disappointment and… betrayal, perhaps? It reminded him of his own feelings of betrayal. "So while we're on the subject," his voice took on a new heat, "when were you going to tell me about Gwyn?"

"What about Gwyn?" She questioned, bemused.

"Well you're seeing him again, aren't you?" She blinked, brow furrowed, but didn't say anything. He carried on: "Did you think it was fun for me to walk in on the two of you? And to use your point, how is it okay that Llewyn gets to see him all the time and yet you have a go at me for-"

"Oh my god you cannot be serious!" She interrupted hotly. "Have we gone back in time or something? Is that what this is? Have you slipped a time turner round my neck and I've somehow missed it?" He glared back and opened his mouth ready to retort but she continued before he could. "That night you 'walked in on us' - that was a gathering to celebrate Gwyn's engagement. The whole group was there but only Gwyn came out to find me! He's here tonight with his fiance, haven't you seen them together?" She paused for breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Deciding to change tack, she closed the distance between them and slid her hands into his, holding them up to her chest.

"Draco," she beseeched, "after everything we've been through - you need to get it in your head that I will never choose Gwyn over you."

She could see the cogs turning in his mind, see his eyes soften to her, see - regret?

"Merlin, Ri," he breathed, "I miss you so much." He lifted her hands up to his mouth and kissed them, rubbing the spot that he'd kissed with his thumbs tenderly.

"I'm right here," she whispered, the melancholy of the moment closing her throat up. She knew that she was condemned to wait for him for as long as it took, she just needed to find the courage to convey it to him. "Draco, I-"

A windowpane above them smashed suddenly, shards of glass to falling around them like glitter. "Watch out!" Draco pulled her by the arm back to the patio doors and pushed her through, trying to protect her from the glass.

Once inside he retreated back to his armchair, cursing whatever had caused that window to break.

Astoria's back was pushed up against the wardrobe in whoever's bedroom she'd taken over in the Zabini's house, the man kissing her eager to get more.

"Slow down," she turned her head to the side to escape his fervent kisses. "Someone will hear us!"

"So?" The man responded, trying to glue his mouth back onto hers. "Maybe it's time they all knew about us."

A hard slap to the cheek informed him that maybe it wasn't.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I need to marry Draco: if I don't marry well my family will disown me!" She hissed, moving further away from the door in the hope of protecting their conversation from the numerous party guests.

"What about 'true love' and all that?" The guy asked, offended.

Astoria resolve diminished slightly, and she put her hands on either side of his cheeks. "True love can happen in time, pudding, but I need to have established myself first. Once we're married, I'll be in line to the Malfoys' fortune and Draco can have a little…accident. Then I'll get the money and be free to marry you! Society won't care about your blood status then - no one can judge a widow!"

The man appeared to be thinking hard and eventually said: "But no one cares about blood status anymore!"

Astoria tutted sympathetically, as though trying to teach something simple to an intellectually challenged child. "No, pudding, that's just what people say but deep down everyone still bases their judgements on it, it's a prejudice that isn't just going to be neutralised overnight."

The man huffed. "Alright fine, then what do I need to do to hurry this whole thing up?"

The brunette's attention was grabbed by figures moving outside the window and she moved closer instinctively to get a better look. To her horror, it was Draco and Arianwen: they appeared to be having an argument but it quickly changed and he then was looking at her open-mouthed, like she were some kind of angel sent from the heavens above.

"You need to get her out of the picture." She said, jabbing a bitter finger at Arianwen. "She's doing everything she can to get in the way of my relationship with Draco. And if she succeeds-"

"-We can't be together." The man finished for her, the penny finally dropping. "What do you want me to do?"

"Collect information on her." Astoria said, waving her hands as if said information was going to materialise into them. "You need to find out her dirty secrets and get proof of them too! If we can ruin her reputation enough he won't want her in his life, he's dead set on becoming the golden boy again, he won't want anything messing that up for him."

"Alright," the man agreed, "how soon do you think-"

Astoria gasped suddenly, causing her lover to stop in his tracks. "Is everything alright, my love?"

"She's trying to get him to kiss her!" She shrieked.

"Not today, petal! Stand back!" He grabbed a heavy signet ring from the dresser and lobbed it at the window-pane, the glass breaking easily under its pressure. "Duck!" He hissed, shooing Astoria towards the door.

As she descended the stairs and slid back into the main throng of the party, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. That man is vile, she thought, but a necessary evil for the time being. For once she had Draco firmly locked into marriage she wasn't going to let him go again, she just had to make that idiotic man think it so he'd help get rid of her - her dark eyes narrowed as Arianwen's obnoxious laughter rung in her ears. And the sooner the better.