'What were you all doing with Potter?'
Daphne looked up from her book to see Draco Malfoy standing before her with that infuriating sneer spread across his pointed face as he regarded her and her friends. Daphne dearly looked forward to the day that she would be allowed to hex the pompous arse within an inch of his life. But today, she knew, was not that day.
'Speak to Astoria,' she said shortly, going back to her book even while she felt a twinge of guilt at sending Malfoy her sister's way.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. 'You need to learn to be more respectful to your superiors, Greengrass.'
Oh, how she hated this boy. She would never, not in a million years, understand why her sister had a crush on him. She wondered why she hadn't aligned herself with Potter earlier; she would have had plenty of opportunity to cause Malfoy a lot of pain. She forced her mouth to curve into a hard smile as she looked back up at him. 'I'm sorry,' she said, 'the OWLs have got me a little stressed out.'
Malfoy gave a curt nod and a disgusting smile, clearly pleased that he had gotten her to apologize. Daphne was more than a little angry with herself, but she also knew that Malfoy wielded a lot of power in Slytherin; it wouldn't do to cross him at the moment, not when she was yet to truly form an alliance with Potter. He looked around at them once more and strode towards where Astoria was sitting with her friends doing homework.
Thea and Tracey were staring at her sympathetically.
'That must have hurt,' the latter said, shaking her head.
'We can't antagonize him - not yet, anyway,' Daphne said as she continued reading her book.
On the other side of the common room, Astoria was steeling her resolve for what she knew she had to do. Her heart was beating just a little bit faster as it always did whenever she was in close proximity to Malfoy - only this time she was fervently reminding herself what a terrible person he was. He was walking purposefully towards her, no doubt to ask about what Harry had wanted when he came to the Slytherin table. She molded her features to take on a calm demeanor at complete odds with the plethora of emotions raging inside her. She already had a plan for dealing with Malfoy, and she was about to execute it. She would not, however, enjoy it. Neither would Daphne, she was sure.
'Greengrass,' Malfoy said when he had reached her. Astoria took a silent breath and looked up at him, putting on her most alluring smile.
'Hi, Draco,' she said in her sultriest voice, keenly aware that her friends were smirking at her. 'What brings you here?'
'What was Potter doing talking to you and your sister at dinner?' Malfoy asked.
Astoria widened her smile; she stood, took Draco's hand in her own and whispered in his ear, 'Let's talk in private, shall we?' She then led him towards the fifth year boys' dormitory. Her brain was screaming at her hand to let go even as her heart went faster. How could she like this vile person? He couldn't even address her politely, for Merlin's sake! She needed to drop her infatuation with him, especially in light of the Dark Lord's return; she did not want to be involved in any way with an aspiring Death Eater. She needed to get over him. Later, though; for now, she had a role to play.
'Alright,' Malfoy said once he had cast a few spells to make sure that they weren't overheard, 'what's this about, Greengrass?'
Astoria bit her bottom lip to stop herself from telling Malfoy to put his wand up his…well, she didn't think he would appreciate that. Instead, she crossed the room to sit herself down on what she knew was his bed and crossed her legs while leaning back using her arms. She had done away with her robes and was clad only in her uniform, minus sweater and tie, the top two buttons of her shirt undone. She planned to tease Malfoy a little in order to get his attention - and it was working; he was staring at her almost hungrily, apparently unable to look away. She felt very uncomfortable under his gaze, but forced the feeling down; she had a job to do.
'Potter came to have a little chat with me,' Astoria said, injecting as much confidence as she could into her voice as she smirked. 'It seems that everyone's favorite Gryffindor has a certain…interest in me.'
'Interest?' Malfoy still had his eyes glued anywhere but to her face. She shuddered once more to think that she had a crush on him and silently vowed to be shot of those particular feelings by the end of the month. Daphne would certainly be happy.
'Yes, he asked me out,' she clarified, idly examining her fingernails to keep up her charade of indifference towards Harry.
'What?' Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed as an accusatory expression crossed his face. 'Don't tell me you accepted that filthy son of a Mudblood.'
'I did - for you.' Malfoy's face went from surprised to outraged to confused, just as she had expected. 'This is the perfect chance to show everyone how pathetic Potter really is. I knew you wouldn't want to waste such an opportunity, so I took him up on his offer to get to know each other better.'
Malfoy got a calculating look in his eye as he thought about what she had said. 'You mean you're playing with Potter?'
Astoria nodded, smiling as best as she could. She felt terrible for doing and saying these things, but she knew that she needed to for the results they wanted.
'And you're doing this for me, you say?' She nodded again. 'Why?'
Astoria got to her feet, crossed the room, took Draco's hands in her own and looked into his eyes. 'Do you really need to ask me that, Draco?' she said breathlessly.
A nasty smirk came over his face. It revolted Astoria, but she forced herself to keep smiling.
'No,' he said as he raised a hand and threaded it through her brown tresses, 'I suppose I don't.'
He pulled her towards him for a kiss but Astoria stopped him with a solitary finger to his lips. 'Not yet,' she said. 'I want our first kiss to be in front of Potter - to make it special, you know?'
If she didn't know that she was acting, Astoria was sure that she would have been mightily disgusted with herself. The look of satisfaction on Malfoy's face, however, actually made her skin crawl.
'I knew you were more worthwhile than that sister of yours, Greengrass,' he said appreciatively. 'Do whatever you need to; I think it's long past time Potter was taken down to where he belongs: at my feet.'
Astoria nodded, mirroring Malfoy's evil smile. He gave her one last sweeping glance and left the dormitory, looking thoroughly satisfied.
Astoria sat down on the nearest bed and took many deep, calming breaths. She prided herself in her acting skills, which she had been told she inherited from her paternal grandmother, but she knew that she had been very close to screaming and running for the hills. When Malfoy had thought that he had a chance to humiliate Harry, the air had been filled with his malice; it had poured off of him literally in waves, and it made her stomach churn. Daphne had been completely right: if she pursued someone like Malfoy, she would become someone that she would normally loathe. It was a good thing, then, that she had already decided to kill off her feelings for the blonde boy. It seemed that she had managed to convince him of her "plan", so he would leave her, Daphne, Tracey and Thea alone if they were seen in Harry's company, thinking that the others were in on it as well. The true task would be to keep the guise up - and that would include telling Harry what she had done.
She thought about what Daphne would have said if she saw her almost throwing herself at Malfoy and was immensely glad that her sister hadn't been there to witness the event unfold. Once her heart rate was back to normal and she felt mostly calm, Astoria left the dormitory but instead of rejoining her friends, went to her own dormitory; she was desperate for a hot shower. When she got there, she mercifully found herself alone - though that didn't last long; Daphne came charging through the door a moment later.
'What happened?' she demanded, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. 'You were both up there for quite a while, and then Malfoy comes down looking like -' She broke off, suddenly looking horrified. 'Tori, please tell me you didn't…'
Astoria stared at her elder sister for a long time before she understood what she was asking. 'No - Merlin, no,' she said swiftly. 'I wouldn't do that. You know I wouldn't do that! How could you even think that?'
'I'm sorry. It's just…I know how long you've had a crush on him -'
'That's about to end,' Astoria said firmly. 'He's disgusting; I want nothing to do with him.'
Daphne looked so happy one might have thought that Astoria had just given her a million Galleons.
'Finally,' she said, throwing her hands up in celebration. 'It took you long enough. What did you see in him, anyway?'
'He has a lot of power in the house,' answered Astoria slowly. 'He can be shrewd when he needs to be, and he commands respect -'
'Through people's fear of his daddy,' her sister pointed out.
'True. Well, it doesn't matter what I thought of him before; I now know that he's a creep. I wanted to tease him, to appeal to that ego of his, but still…you should have seen the way he was looking at me, Daph. The only time he looked me in the face was when he wanted to eat my mouth.'
'I don't need the mental picture of Malfoy kissing you, thanks - I think I might be sick.' Daphne paused. 'What exactly did you do, Tori?'
Astoria told her. She expected Daphne to go ballistic, to say that she had gone too far, or to go and hex Malfoy for daring to put his hands on her younger sister. Daphne did none of those things, however; instead, she sighed and shook her head.
'I really don't get how you can fake doing things like that without batting an eye, Tori - but I guess we should be thankful that you can.'
'Aren't you mad?' Astoria asked, her eyes wide.
'In the past I would be,' answered Daphne, 'but you're fourteen now, Astoria; you're not a little girl. I know better than anyone that you can take care of yourself; you don't need me to shield you from anything any more. But I hope you know that I'll always be there for you.'
'I never doubted it,' Astoria said with a very bright smile. 'I'm not too old for a sister-sister hug, am I?'
Daphne laughed and stepped forward to embrace her younger sister. When they finally pulled away from each other, they were both grinning from ear to ear. Just like any other sisters, they often grated on each other's nerves, but Astoria knew that she would never trade Daphne for anyone or anything in the world - and she also knew that her sister felt the same way about her.
'Keeping this up is going to be tough. D'you think you can do it?' Daphne asked, concern clouding her normally clear eyes.
'I think so; it'll be the perfect way to play with Malfoy - I'll be conspiring with the person he hates the most, after all.' Astoria took on a thoughtful expression and then said, 'Actually, now that I've decided I don't want to be with Malfoy, maybe I should take an honest crack at Harry.'
'What?'
Astoria smiled at the expression on her sister's face. 'What, do you want him? I'd be only too happy to get out of your way, dear sister.'
'Don't be ridiculous,' Daphne scowled.
'How is it ridiculous? You can't deny that Harry's good-looking, Daph. And honestly speaking, you really could do with a boy in your life - you and Thea. You both really need some more adoration in your lives.'
'Have you been talking to Tracey?'
'You really should listen to her, she knows what she's talking about,' said Astoria with a grin. 'Daphne, tell me: how many dates have you been on before and after the Yule Ball?'
Daphne opened her mouth to reply - then froze. She frowned.
'Exactly,' Astoria said with a small laugh. 'Now tell me: how many times have you kissed someone?' Her sister was looking very uncomfortable now, which only served to prove Astoria's point. 'Exactly. I'm two years younger yet I've dated and kissed a lot more than you, Daph. What are you so afraid of?'
'I'm not afraid,' said Daphne.
'Then why are you so against the idea of going on a date with Harry?' Astoria asked curiously.
'I don't feel anything for him. In fact, all I really know about him is what he looks like.'
'I didn't say you should set out to make him your boyfriend right away, just go on a few casual dates with him and see what happens and how it feels like - then you can decide whether you like him or not.'
'But isn't he your fake boyfriend now?'
'I only told Malfoy that I agreed to get to know him better,' Astoria said, shaking her head. 'I'm essentially doing - or pretending to, at least - what I'm now telling you to do.'
'But why are you insisting on Potter?' Daphne asked.
'Because as far as I can tell, he has more or less the same amount of experience as you, so you're on equal ground,' Astoria explained, smiling. 'He also strikes me as someone who you could really have feelings for - that goes for me as well, as a matter of fact. I'm seriously thinking about trying it out; why not get together with Malfoy's arch-nemesis if I can? Plus, I can honestly say that I'm tired of the Slytherin boys; a breath of fresh air would be most welcome.'
'You do what you want,' Daphne said with a disapproving sniff, 'but I'm fine, thank you very much.'
'If you say so. Just don't say I didn't warn you of my intentions, dear sister.'
