I apologise for for the long wait, I have been more than busy lately and I had a few more writer blocks during that time. But anyway without further ado, enjoy this chapter!
News had spread all too fast about Buckbeak's vicious attack on Malfoy, and not surprisingly it made the front page on the Daily Prophet. Even the Quibbler contained a short interview with Lucius Malfoy who unhesitatingly expressed his fury towards the incident.
Until his arm had completely healed, the only words that came out of Draco's mouth were complaints towards Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures and the fact that he wasn't able to write. Including Astoria, there was not a single student in the school who was not annoyed by his ongoing whines. She still had some sort of hint of infatuation towards the Malfoy, but mostly she was irritated by his sudden changes of personality; for one minute he appeared to be decent and the next minute he acted like a selfish tyrant.
Since that gruesome incident, Astoria only caught the slightest glimpses of Draco walking around the school with his two minions. When Crabbe and Goyle weren't accompanying him, she would find a certain Miss Parkinson clutching onto his arm and sneering at every girl who looked at her boyfriend. Although strangely enough, Draco never showed obvious signs of affection towards Pansy, arousing Astoria's curiosity.
Almost nothing had changed until her fourth year at Hogwarts. She was never going to have him, she often thought to herself. That was just about enough for her to date her long-time friend Malcolm.
Malcolm loved Astoria and was not afraid to show it to the world, but Astoria was only on the verge of loving him. She didn't mind it when he hugged her and kissed her but in her heart, she felt no passion whatsoever and this was driving to her guilt. She had a loving boyfriend, terrific school marks, caring friends and family members and she was trying to accept that they were all that mattered.
One night a few months after they had begun dating, Malcolm had planned a secret date with Astoria in the Room of Requirement. The plan was for them to sneak out of their dormitories and evade the prefects whom were watching the corridors while they made their way to the room.
When Astoria was sure that her room-mates were fast asleep, she slowly and silently climbed out of her bed. She whispered the Silencing Charm at her creaky dormitory door and tiptoed her way to the entrance of the common room where her boyfriend was waiting patiently for her arrival.
Malcolm greeted her with a soft touch on her hand. "You certainly took your time, Tori! Were you about to fall asleep in your bed?" he whispered.
"Nearly," she giggled. "Let's go!"
Still grabbing onto her hand, Malcolm led the way out of the common room and onto the corridor. A handful of staff members and prefects were seen gliding through the hallways and out of sight. As the couple walked, they often succumbed to their cautiousness and hid behind walls whenever they heard footsteps or saw passing shadows. When they were sure that nobody was nearby, they rushed past the sleeping painting whom were nearly awakened by their running footsteps.
"Can we slow down a bit, Mal?" Astoria panted, "We'll wake the paintings!"
Malcolm turned his head but continued running. "No, we won't! Besides, they're not gonna turn us in if they do!" he said quickly.
"And plus my feet hurt!" Astoria added.
"It's alright, Tori! We're nearly there-!"
Before he could finish, Malcolm roughly pulled Astoria and pressed the both of them against the castle walls. He immediately placed his palm over her mouth before she could react to his sudden actions. Their breathings slowed dramatically and their eyes widened as they caught sight of Professor McGonagall sauntering down the hallway. They froze for what seemed like a minute or two before she finally disappeared through the library doors.
"Thank goodness!" Malcolm sighed, releasing Astoria's tightly covered mouth allowing her to breathe.
Again taking her hand, she headed down discreetly and eventually reached a certain wall further down the corridor. The couple stood for a few moments, waiting for a door to slowly appear. But it didn't. Eventually, confusion had hit Malcolm.
"Why isn't the door there?" he frantically patted the wall for a sign of magical happenings.
Astoria was certainly as confused as he was. "Are you sure that this is the right place?"
"Yes, it is."
The couple jumped in terror and whipped around faster than a golden snitch. They had not heard a single sound, and yet a certain wealthy, blonde prefect was standing just feet away from them with an unharmed expression on his face.
"What in Slytherin's name are you doing here, Malfoy?!" Malcolm asked quickly in a panic-stricken tone.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Sanford!" Malfoy added in a frustrated yet strict manner.
"Well...the-the thing is th-that-! Uh-I-I mean-!"
"Stop your stammers, Sanford! I think that I would appreciate it if you headed up to your dormitory this instant! Besides, I'd rather stay here all night than hear your s-st-stutters!" he mocked.
"Don't mock him, Malfoy!"
Astoria raised her hand to cover her mouth in sudden realisation, but then chose to drop it by her side. She was just as surprised as Draco as she had never spoken to him like that before. She simply froze on the spot and dropped her glare into a slightly frightened look. Coincidentally, Draco had a similar expression before he turned and gestured towards Malcolm.
"You, off to bed! I want to have a word with Miss Greengrass."
Malcolm did not hesitate and rushed back to the common room, only looking back once at his girlfriend before vanishing around the corner. Draco's blue eyes slowly turned to Astoria, but he did not say a word. Astoria was staring at the ground, too shy to look up at him for an unknown reason. The dead silence finally drove Malfoy to break it.
"Tell me, Astoria; what were you and Sanford doing wandering around the castle at night?"
She slowly lifted her eyes and faced him, but still did not say anything. So many useless excuses to tell a prefect were rushing through her head and she felt like as if her vocal chords had tied themselves into a knot, refraining her voice to be released. Draco somehow felt her bewilderment and softened his eyes.
"I just want you to be honest with me," he said softly.
After a brief moment, she sighed. "We planned a date night in the Room of Requirement," she answered, "That's all I can say."
She peered down on the ground again, though Draco refused to break eye contact with her face. A thought gradually came to Astoria's mind and she cautiously glanced back up in his eyes.
"You already knew, didn't you?" she was greeted by his unchanged stare. "Didn't you?!" she asked a second time, only louder. When he still did not answer, she found the courage to speak out against him.
"If we had swapped places in another life, I wouldn't give a damn if I heard about you planning to snog Pansy Parkinson in a secret room! I probably would have left you in peace rather than sneak around to invade someone's personal life! And also, I've always been afraid to say this, but I'm not afraid anymore! You're a monster and I wish you a horrible life!"
She had never seen him look so shocked yet amazed at the same time. It took a lot of control for her to not smile at this discovery, so she turned on her shoes and stormed down the hallway with a concerned stare following her back. When she had turned a corner, she felt strange to find herself on the verge of tearing. Wiping her eyes, she dismissed it and rushed towards the common room.
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