4th January, 2001

9.54 am

~Draco~

Draco grunted as he dressed for the day. He had been utterly devastated at what Astoria had done to him. Also, he was angry. Angry enough to curse in front of Astoria, which she absolutely disliked. Draco groaned.

"She's just another girl" he told his reflection in the mirror, "Not some one worth fighting for" he decided. Then, staring at his reflection for over a minute, sighed.

"I'm done for" he decided, making his way down to breakfast.

Lucius and Narcissa were already at the table, Lucius with The Daily Prophet and Narcissa skimming through a magazine. Draco sat down and began to eat the pan cakes.

"Good morning" Draco said stiffly, "Mother, father" he wished. Narcissa put the magazine down and looked at him, her light blue eyes staring at him with worry.

Draco turned to his food, hoping his mother wouldn't bring up the topic of Astoria. Daphne had been kind enough to babble about it the last time she was there, which did not help Draco's self-esteem at all.

"How's it going with Astoria, Draco?" Narcissa asked.

Draco mentally kicked himself. Lucius looked up from the paper, first at Narcissa, then at Draco, rather expectantly. Draco frowned inwardly. They wanted an answer.

"Fine" he muttered.

Narcissa looked crest-fallen. Lucius turned back to the paper as if he'd expected that.

"Doesn't she like you, Draco?" Narcissa asked.

"No, mother" Draco replied, after a pause, "She doesn't seem to be interested in going out at the moment"

Narcissa sighed, a little sadly, Draco noted.

"She's quite the looker, Draco" Narcissa added, grinning, "With a wife like her, you'll have beautiful children"

Lucius put down the paper and sipped his Earl Grey tea.

"She's also a rebellious child" Lucius added, "Duncan tells me she went to the Yule ball with a Weasley, when she was 12 years old"

Draco looked at his father.

"I see" he said, feeling dejected, "But, father" Draco added, "she's a smart witch. The smartest I've met in a long time" he admitted.

"This is, of course" Lucius said, smirking like the mad man that he was, "with reference to that mud-blood witch you had puppy-love with" he said. Draco stood abruptly.

"Excuse me" he said, and then, walked away, feeling annoyed that his father brought it up. Of course, the "mudblood" Lucius had mentioned was a witch named Hermione Granger, now Hermione Weasley. Draco sighed. Of course, he wasn't in love with her, or anything. She just amused him to no extent, that's all. Also, he never had any interest in her in the "love" sort of way. He, possibly, admired her. The fact that despite being from a background like that, she'd managed to learn so much. Draco groaned and apparated to work. Thinking about her did not help at all.

12 noon

~Draco~

Draco frowned as he took the elevator to the lunch-floor. He had company, Ginny Weasley, no less. She still looked like she did in school, with flaming red hair and a face full of freckles. Draco wondered if he ought to wait for the next one. But, knowing how close it was to lunch, took the same elevator.

"Malfoy" Ginny greeted curtly.

"Weasley" he replied, nodding towards her and then turning away.

Ginny turned to her companion, a tall man Draco had never seen before.

"So, Eric, I hope you can come to the wedding" Ginny said. Draco tried to block-out the conversation, but it didn't work.

"Sure, Ginny, I'll come" the man replied, "After all it's on Saturday and George invited me personally"

"That's good" Ginny replied.

The elevator finally came to a halt at the lunch floor, and Draco got off, feeling thankful. He absently wondered if the famous Harry Potter was getting married, but then, remembering that Astoria had gone to the Yule Ball with a Weasley, wondered who it was. Could it be the red-head who was in his year? The boy whose mouth was never full enough? Draco gagged at the thought. Then, remembering what kind of woman Astoria was, wondered if it was possible. Draco turned to Ginny Weasley, who was now companion-less and stared at her. Ginny was kind enough to return the favour and glared back.

"What, Malfoy?" she asked, "Spit it out" she said.

Draco scowled at her.

"Have you ever heard any of your brothers mention Astoria Greengrass?" he asked. Ginny frowned.

"Why do you want to know?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. Draco disliked talking to her already. She was annoying him.

"Just tell me, Weasley" he said. Ginny shot him a glare that could kill.

"George sometimes talks about Astoria" Ginny informed, "She was in Ravenclaw with Luna, right? A year younger than us" she said, nodding to herself.

Draco sighed with relief. George was the twin who had survived the war. He also recalled George having lost a ear.

"I see" Draco said and then with a smirk and curt nod, turned and left. He would have to talk to Astoria about it and find out if she was still in contact with him and if she was in love with the Weasley. Draco frowned and looked back, noticing Ginny looking puzzled.

"George is getting married this Sunday" Ginny informed him, "And he's madly in love with Angelina, so I doubt Astoria's got a chance at him" she said. Draco frowned,

"Also, Astoria doesn't really like George all that much. She's smitten with Bill" she told him.

Draco frowned. If it's not one Weasley, it's another, he cursed, taking the elevator to ground level to apparate to Gringotts and find out where exactly Astoria had gone.

1.03 pm

~ Draco~

Draco frowned as he walked into Gringotts and noticed the Goblins. Goblins were shrewd, calculating creatures and apart from keeping their treasures safe, they knew nothing more. Not even kind manners.

"I'm looking for Astoria Greengrass" he asked one of the goblins on the high stool.

"Ask Bill Weasley" the goblin barked in a raspy voice. Draco cringed at the sound and wondered what Astoria saw in working here. She'd gotten an offer to work in the Ministry, but she'd declined, not-so-kindly, as far as he'd heard.

Draco looked around, trying to find the said Weasley and it was easy. Bill Weasley was the only one with red hair. He was quite the handsome lad, Draco noticed, much to his dismay, save for the scar on his left cheek and neck, given by Fenrir Greyback during the Death-eater invasion that ended in Dumbledore's death. Draco flinched. He had caused that. Now, to go and ask him about Astoria seemed like a bad idea.

"Can I help you?" Bill asked, noticing Draco loiter in front of his desk for some time. Draco recoiled and then realising this was the only way to get to Astoria before it was too late, swallowed his pride and nodded.

"I'm looking for Astoria Greengrass" Draco asked. Bill grinned.

"Is that so?" he asked, sounding amused, "You're not the first" he added, grinning, "Have a seat" he said. Draco sat down stiffly, wondering why he had to associate with this Weasley. He was the oldest of the lot, and the smartest, possibly.

"Malfoy, right?" Bill asked, making Draco scowl and nod.

"Astoria said you'd come here" Bill said, grinning, "I didn't think you'd come so soon though. I was thinking you'd be here a few days later"

"Where is she?" Draco asked, not wanting to make idle conversation, for he wasn't very good at it. Bill looked at his watch.

"Well, right now, she's in Venice" Bill informed, "But, in a couple of hours she'll apparate to Rome" he informed, "Do you want to know which hotel she's staying in?" he asked.

Draco gulped down his excitement, lest it showed on his face.

"Yes?" he said. Bill grinned.

"Here you are" he said, handing him an envelope, "She left this for you. Said you should read it before you do something foolish" he added. Draco took the envelope and noticed the purple ink and curvy writing "Read this before doing something foolish, Malfoy" it read. Draco groaned at her.

"You're welcome, Malfoy" Bill informed. Draco nodded curtly, stood and walked away, to read the letter in privacy: he didn't know how his body might react and doing that in public would greatly hurt his image.

4 pm

~Astoria~

Astoria stared out at the views as she took a gondola ride in the canals of Venice. She had heard so much about it that she just had to try it for herself. Now, she was satisfied. The gondola stopped by the bridge to her hotel and Astoria stood and smiled at the gondoleer.

"Grazie" she said, smiling as the Italian slipped off her tongue with much difficulty.

"Si, senora" the man smiled as he helped her off. After paying for the ride, Astoria made her way up and across the brigde and then felt satisfied as she went to her hotel room to pack. Rome awaited her.

5.03pm

~Draco~

Draco opened the envelope in the safety of his room, back at home. The letter was hardly a page long and had been written in the same purple ink as the envelope and the letter Daphne had showed him.

Malfoy,
If you're reading this then you have already been to Gringotts. How expected.

In any case, I'd like to apologise for not having dinner with you tonight.

I'm in a hurry and these Italians don't like waiting.

I'll probably be back by the end of the week.

If I'm not, then just wait a little longer. I will be back.

Also, don't show Daphne this letter, because it's longer than the one I'm about to write for her.

If you're still planning to do something foolish, try going to the Weasley wedding this Sunday. That'll cool you off.

-Astoria Greengrass

Intern Curse-breaker

Gringotts bank

Draco sighed as he finished the letter once. Then, he read it over and over again. By the fifth reading, he felt as if Astoria might, after all this, have a little thing for him.

He hoped, in any case. Sighing, he fell into bed, feeling happy about himself, for once. Now, he told himself, was a great time to reel her in, while she was hooked.

6.00 pm

~Astoria~

Astoria took in the view of the city while she drove around it in a taxi, a muggle contraption that was much better than a broom. The driver spoke in fast Italian and Astoria had already asked him twice to slow down. Now, she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to see. The air of the city was very much different than London and Astoria some how felt relaxed here. As if she were far, far away from all the troubles back home. She sat back in her seat and nodded towards the driver.

"Grazie" Astoria said, thanking the driver as he dropped her off where he'd started. After ordering dinner, Astoria looked out at the view of the city. Rome was beautiful too. There was so much to see and so little time, she realised. Then, remembering that she was there for work, sighed tiredly. She needed a vacation, she knew that. But this job was what she wanted to do. Not be stuck in a cubicle in the Ministry, hundreds of floors underground with no real sunlight. Astoria sighed as she stared at the lights of the city. Soon, her pasta had arrived and Astoria ate with satisfaction.

"I'm eating real pasta in Rome! Rome!" she told herself as she ate it and then sighed happily. She might've been a Hufflepuff, the way that she acted, she mused and then, as that came to mind, so did a fellow Hufflepuff: Cedric Diggory. Astoria frowned and dropped her fork. Then, she noticed the other customers give her odd looks.

Astoria drank some red wine and took deep breaths to calm herself. Then, five minutes later, her breathing was steady and the waitress had already brought her another fork. Astoria stared at the fork. Then, sighed, tired. She put the fork down, threw some muggle money on the table and left. Sleep would make her feel better, she told herself, going into bed for an early night.

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