Thank you to everyone who is reading this and a big gratitude shout-out to those who reviewed! I find your feedback so helpful and encouraging. Just a note: I will be listening to and following through with everyone's suggestions, but they might be not present right away because I have to fit them into the storyline properly. Again, thank you all so much for continuing on with this story! You all are awesome! :)
It was hard to sleep that night. Before leaving, the Mediwizard had advised letting Astoria rest for a good amount of time so that her body could attempt to naturally repair itself a bit. Narcissa could see just how visibly upset and shattered Draco was. She gently tugged his thin wrist along with her into the library, sitting him down in a soft chair across from her. "Love," she whispered. "Can you tell me what's the matter?"
"I just…I-I…I can't let her die. I don't even know this girl, I don't know who she is at all, and yet if she ever stopped breathing or died I would feel entirely guilty because of the…thing that brought this upon her." Draco shuddered.
"Darling, it wasn't you that cursed her. You didn't use Dark magic on her."
"I know, but someone did. Someone that I was once associated with, even if it was against my will. I was…I was one of them…"
"Shhh….that's all over now. It's all done. No one sees you responsible for anything—they know you were just a boy. Just a child. Draco, it's alright. Everything will be alright. When she wakes, we'll bring her some soup and talk to her."
"And…Father…?"
"Don't you fret about him, love. If he questions this or argues, I'll tell him what for. I'm tired of him controlling my life and yours. We are good people, Draco. You and I are good. We can do the good things we want, like taking care of this Astoria, even if he disagrees. Good wins."
Draco looked at his mother through watery eyes. She opened up her arms wide, welcoming him to crawl into them and onto her lap like he did as a small child. Although he'd gotten taller, he still weighed nothing. Narcissa rocked him gently, smiling against his soft hair. "We're good, darling." she repeated. Draco murmured something unintelligible, but she just let it go without asking him to clarify. They stayed huddled together until well past midnight. "I'd best go make sure your father is in bed by now. Sometimes now he just forgets the time and keeps working endlessly. You should get to bed too now, love. I'll see you in the morning, sleep well." Narcissa said, kissing the top of his silky hair. Draco bid her goodnight as well. The two parted ways at the exit of the library, destined to separate wings of the mansion.
Draco dressed himself in his pajamas, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and climbed into bed. He lay awake for what seemed like hours. Guilt continuously crept into his heart at the very thought of anything happening to this Astoria girl. He wasn't even sure why he felt this way, but he knew that should anything happen, he simply wouldn't be able to forget its connection to Dark magic—and ultimately his past experiences with it. Without even feeling anything, Draco climbed out of bed. He didn't even bother with slippers or a robe. He moved swiftly out of his room and down the hall. A sudden glimpse of a moving shadow halted him immediately—he was not allowed to be out of bed after his parents sent him, even if he was almost twenty years old. Getting caught meant serious consequences. A small house-elf with wide eyes stepped in front of him. "Master Draco?" she squeaked. "What is you doing outside of bedchambers at this hours of the night, Master Draco?" Draco's eyes darted everywhere. He didn't want to lie to her (he was tired of lying for so long), but he knew that she'd immediately run to his parents and send them after him. "Er—I'm…listen, you don't say a word about this, alright? Not a word! Understand me? You don't tell my parents, you don't tell the other elves, you don't even tell the sofa that you've seen me here tonight! Got it?" he hissed. After being unable to find a loophole in this order, the house-elf nodded, saying, "Kirry promises to never says a word about seeing Master Draco outside of his bedchambers at such an hours of the night to anyone, even Master and Mistress who could be being much upset at Master Draco's behavioring." Draco blinked a moment, making sure she'd repeated everything without error. He nodded. "Good. Now…go back to your nest." The house-elf bowed low. "Yeses, Master Draco, sir. Sleep well or whatever else you mays be doing out of bedchambers at such an hours of the night…"
Draco slipped silently down the hall, stopping at a guest room concealed by a shut door. This was Astoria's room. He quietly turned the handle, creeping inside the dimly lit room. The ill girl lay motionless in bed. Draco's breath caught. She almost looked…no, he wouldn't think of that. She couldn't be. She had been checked over, it wasn't possible. Yet. Moving closer to the bed, Draco realized that she was indeed breathing, but with some difficulty. The cuts had been healed over, the dirt removed by a freshening charm. She was shivering violently. Draco bent down to pull the covers up closer around her shoulders (for good measure, of course). Suddenly, her eyes shot open and her plae bony hand was clenched tightly around his wrist. Both froze like that. "D-Don't be afraid…" Draco murmured, unsure of what to say to the look in those eyes. "I was only…I wanted to…you looked cold…" he decided. Astoria watched him even more closely. The blonde boy sighed, straightening to pull away.
But she didn't let go.
Turning his face to look at her, he noticed that her eyes bad softened from their wild fear into a more pleading gaze. He wasn't sure what to say to her. It hadn't been in his plan of visitation this night to have her actually wake up—he'd only wanted to check in on her; make sure she was alright, appease his own guilt. "Er—may I…have my arm back please?" he stammered, kicking himself mentally for saying something so insensitive and stupid. Astoria held fast, shaking her head. "Y-You're…warm…" she whispered in a shivering breath. Draco nodded, understanding why she was so intent on touching his skin. He pulled his wand out of his pajama waistband. When she retracted a bit in fear, he hushed her softly, promising he wouldn't cause her pain. He gently waved his wand up and back over the comforter twice as he thought an incantation in his head.
Immediately, Astoria's grip on his wrist slackened. He'd placed a heating charm on her blankets that would last throughout the night and into the morning so that she could be comfortable and maybe catch some more rest. Sighing as she relaxed against the pillows again, Draco noticed that she had been dressed into one of his mother's nightgowns—he couldn't help but entertain the thought of how pretty she looked like this. He shook the thought out of his head. How could he be looking at her like that? His father barely even knew she existed in his house! How would he possibly allow for Draco to go for looks only? But that familiar voice of Narcissa's wormed its way back into his conscience—the one that reminded him that Lucius didn't have to think for all of them now, that they had choices of their own. Astoria opened her eyes after stretching nicely and gazed at Draco. "T-Thank you…" she whispered. Draco smiled a lopsided and clumsy smile that couldn't be helped. "Anything," he replied, hoping she'd understand to call for him if she ever needed something. She settled deep under the blankets and turned onto her side to fall asleep again. Draco silently crept out of the room.
As he lay in bed again, he felt slightly less disturbed now that he'd seen that he could ease Astoria's suffering, even if temporarily. It reassured him that he was useful (to her, mainly) and could help someone restore themselves to fair, even good, health. He sighed contentedly. Perhaps he could redeem himself by doing the opposite of what the Dark magic had done to Astoria.