September 10; Hogwarts Hallways

Draco walked aimlessly around the castle, finally pulling himself out of the Slytherin common room and out of his somewhat sleeping state. He found himself pulled towards Ravenclaw Tower. No surprise there. What he didn't expect however, was for Astoria to come strolling down the hall opposite him, foul words escaping her perfect lips.

She saw him eventually, and quickened her pace, until she stood in front of him, gazing into his grey eyes. He opened his mouth to talk, but she stopped him with a tiny shake of her head.

"Those words will change everything," she informed him sternly.

"I know."

"Things won't be the same," she continued.

"I know."

"I don't know if I'm fully prepared..." she stuttered out.

"I know."

"You infuriate me," she told him.

"I know."

"Kiss me?" she asked in a whisper.

And he obliged.

Astoria's toes curled under Draco's ministrations. His lips moved softly now, so gently over her own. He showed no signs of his previous rough attempts to kiss her, this wasn't a hot snog; this, this, was exactly what she wanted. She sighed contently and he smiled against her lips. She placed her hands on his chest and felt him jump. He moved his lips from her mouth to her ear, trailing tiny kisses along the way.

"You're not going to push me away again, are you? I don't think my ego can take another hit like that…" he murmured, his hot breath tickling her neck. He nuzzled her slowly, pressing his nose into her collar bone, breathing in deeply.

She shook her head lightly, "Nope."

"Good," he breathed, and promptly resumed kissing her.

And despite being pressed against the cold, stone walls of the castle, Astoria felt considerably warm inside.

What they didn't notice however, was a figure lurking in the shadows, eyes glued to the Ravenclaw beauty, and the Slytherin beast.

September 10; Slytherin Common Room

Draco walked back to his common room in a slight daze. A goofy grin was apparent on his angular face, and all those who passed him did a double take. What had caused steely Draco Malfoy to grin like an idiot?

He slumped down on a green arm chair in front of the blazing fire, placing his head in his hands. Her name replayed over and over in his mind, along with their kiss. If he could preserve this moment forever, he would, without a single doubt.

Draco could count the number of things that made him truly happy on one hand. There was his mother, ever his inspiration. There was flying, his favourite past time. There was the death of the Dark Lord, a new beginning for him. And now, there was Astoria, the first girl who could give him a run for his money, the first girl to elicit any emotion within him, and the first girl who had chosen him.

He thought her mad for picking him; he came with a lot of baggage, and he certainly knew that, but he came to appreciate and admire the fact that Astoria Greengrass knew exactly what she wanted, and how to get it.

"Draco, I'm assuming you've had a great day," spoke Blaise from the opposite side of the room.

Draco lifted his head, "Yeah, you could say that."

"I'm going to take another stab at this and assume it has something to do with a certain blond haired beauty," he said, a tiny hint of sarcasm seeping into his deep voice.

"Spot on again, Blaise, you're so very observant," drawled Draco, instantly being put in a standoff mood by Blaise's tone of voice.

Blaise smirked, "Testy, are we?"

"Listen, Zabini. I don't care about your little infatuation with Astoria, but I'm going to say this once and only once. She's mine, and you will never have her," Draco threatened calmly, venom lacing his every word. His eyes were stormy, a tell tale sign of his fleeting patience.

"Actually, I prefer to watch you self destruct."

Draco sat perfectly still, mulling over the words Blaise had just uttered. That phrase hit home, very close to home.

A young Draco Malfoy, barely sixteen years old, stood in front of his imposing father.

"Do you know what you have cost me, boy?" his father spat.

Draco nodded curtly, shrinking under his father's harsh gaze.

"That cabinet, Draco, was our way in. And in an act of complete stupidity, you have jeopardized that," Lucius accused, his pale face turning red.

"I know, I will fix it. I can do it, I just need more time," Draco pleaded; he only ever pleaded to his father.

Lucius smirked. "You will do this, Draco. And if you don't, I will sit back and watch in disappointment, my only satisfaction coming from the fact that you have brought upon your own demise. I prefer to watch men self destruct."

Blaise sneered. "Because you always do, Malfoy, you always do."

September 12; Somewhere in Malfoy Manor

"What have you discovered?"

The man sat behind a desk, sickly in appearance, yet commanding in his tone. A woman stood in front of him, a dark, slithering woman, bent on the downfall of a Slytherin boy, and the success of the Dark Revolution.

"He has become close to a girl. Astoria Greengrass, Ravenclaw, Seventh year," she reported, counting off the facts on her fingers.

"Excellent," the man hissed. "My son chooses wisely. Such a shame, however, that they can never be."

The woman smiled. "A shame indeed. How shall I proceed, Lucius?"

"Give it time, my dear Helen. Teach your silly Defence classes, talk to him, gain his trust, and then, bring her to me, and we shall simply sit and watch. If I know my son, Miss Scuro, is that he has a tendency to rely on his heart, and that will lead to his ultimate self destruction."

Lucius laughed then, Helen Scuro joining in, their cackling voices ringing in the empty, dark office.

September 20; Muggle Studies

The next few days were pure bliss for the pair.

News spread like wild fire throughout the castle, news about the Beauty and the Beast.

"Did you hear? Malfoy has a girlfriend!"

"I heard he paid her off…"

"Really? What a lucky girl."

"What I wouldn't give to be in his position! She's got such a nice ass…"

Draco struggled to keep his cool, especially when he heard vulgar things like that. He couldn't really handle the idea of his Astoria's name coming out of someone else's mouth. She was his…

What was she?

She certainly wasn't just a friend, he decided while sitting in Potions class, sneaking glances at her. But she wasn't his girlfriend either. He didn't want her with anyone else, and he didn't want her to even think about anyone else. She was his, that was obvious, but whether they had a title eluded him. He chose to let her decide, whenever she felt the time was right. And with a grin on his face, he exited at the end of class.

He made his way down the hallway, to catch up with Astoria. He slung his arm across her shoulder and kissed her sound on the cheek.

"Hey," he whispered in her ear. He knew she likes it when he does that.

Mimi, who was walking with Astoria, laughed.

"I'll catch you too later," she yelled across her shoulder, making her towards ahead of the pair

Helia promptly nodded, too. "Yeah, don't want to interrupt anything! Mimi, wait up!"

"You sure know how to clear a room, Draco," admonished Astoria.

Draco rolled his eyes and kissed her again. "You cheeky tart. As long as you're still in the room, I don't really care who leaves…"

She scoffed at this, "Oh yeah? So you can have your way with me?"

Then, Draco smirked. "My wicked way…"

Peals of laughter rolled from Astoria's mouth, and she slapped Draco on his shoulder. "Whatever you say, Malfoy!"

She ran ahead then, her honey hair whipping behind her. Draco sighed and sped up.

He always seemed to be chasing her.

And he was surprised to find that he didn't mind very much.

They both sat in Muggle Studies class, listening to their excited teacher babble on about Muggle games. It was sort of like watching a puppy, Astoria thought.

She slipped her hand under her desk and bumped it with Dracos'. Without looking at her, or acknowledging that anything had happened, he grasped her hand, lacing their fingers together. His thumb rubbed gentle circles on her skin, and she smiled a little bit.

Who knew Draco the Dragon could be such a sweetheart?

She had always known there was good in him; she had no doubt about that. But now that they were together, she got to experience it firsthand. He was such a great…

Boyfriend?

Were they officially dating? The snogging was great, and conversation was good too. But they had never really discussed what they were. She would love for him to ask her to be his. Not that she already wasn't, because she definitely was his, but it would be nice to know for sure. She decided to let him decide, on his own terms.

"So class, today I think we're going to get some fresh air outside and play a grand game of Hide and Seek!"

A few of the students giggled in excitement. She watched as, across the room, Hermione and Harry gave each other high fives, leaving poor bewildered Ron to suffer on his own. She turned to Draco, and was amused to find he had a sneer on his face.

"Ready to play?" she asked him.

"Of course, I'm a great seeker!" he told her confidently, squeezing her hand.

"You're also a bit daft, but I still like you anyways," she said cheerily. She got up, dragging confused Draco by the hand, and followed the rest of the class outside.

September 20; Hogwarts Grounds

The autumn air was chilly, biting at the skin of many students. Scarves were tightened around necks, cloaks closed in a hurry. Draco stood with his hand on the small of Astoria's back, waiting for the professor to catch up with all her eager students.

"So, how do you play this 'Hide and Seek' game?" he asked Astoria, trying to inject a bit of interest into his voice.

"I doubt you were listening…"

"Well, I was a bit distracted," he admitted with a smirk on his face.

She rolled her eyes, a common reflex when around Draco. "Well, there's a seeker, and everyone else hides while they count to one hundred. Then, he tries to find all of the hidden people. If he finds them all, he wins, if he gives up, he loses."

"Sounds boring," he deadpanned. It sounded like a mind numbingly stupid game.

"Not if you're hiding with someone you like..."

He brightened up considerably at this sentence, and his brain went into overtime, think of all the places he and Astoria could hide, without her friends.

"Can we get started then? This sounds like fun."

Astoria smiled, grabbed his hand, and started running once Dean Thomas started counting.

Draco definitely had a new favourite game.

September 20; Forbidden Forest

Draco, I swear to you, if you do not hurry your arse up, I will never let you touch me again."

Needless to say, the blond boy sped up considerably after that, trailing after his almost-some-what-sort-of girlfriend. Merlin he liked her. She dragged him behind her at a steady, quick pace, and together they raced for the tree line at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Of course, when he realized this interesting fact, he pulled the brakes. No bloody way was he ever stepping foot in there again.

"Oh no, I don't think so. We can find another place to hide!" he told her firmly, setting his heels into the autumn ground.

She groaned, and waved her arms in an odd motion that Draco though was supposed to symbolize her feelings of unfairness. "Dra-co, please! I'm not about to lose because you're too much of a child to realize that the forest is the way to go."

"Sweetheart, you're fighting a losing battle. You are dealing with a Malfoy after all," he reminded her pointedly, sticking out a long piano finger in her direction.

She moved to bite the tip of his finger and he yelped, pulling the exposed appendage out of the way. "Bloody hell, you're a complete nutter!"

Astoria smiled beatifically in his direction. "And you're a complete basket case! Now come on, I'll protect you from the monsters..."

And with that, she skipped away towards the dark edge of the forest, and he couldn't suppress the tiny shudder that ran up his spine. He weighed his options. On one hand, he could run the opposite direction, tail between his legs and chat it up with Potter and Weasel. Or...

"Draco, you coming?"

And he was sold. His only worry, as he walked towards Astoria, was; who was going to protect her?

"See, what did I tell you? He'll never find us here," she insisted. They sat in between two large tree roots nestled in the earth.

"We'll be lucky if they ever find us alive..." he muttered darkly under his breath.

She turned her head from her position in his lap. "What was that, dear?"

Astoria said the word 'dear' with as much disdain as she could muster.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her with a quick kiss on the lips. This kiss, of course, turned heavy quite quickly. She turned in his lap, trying to press herself closer, even if there was no closer that they could be. It was soul touching this kiss that they shared in the middle of a forbidden forest where no such feelings of love or lust where ever heard of. It was as if they touched this dark tainted place with a little bit of their own pure, innocent magic, painting this area with a bright light that glowed red hot.

Astoria was happy; gut wrenchingly, heart achingly happy. Bliss encased her like a blanket, and she was very sure that she glowed from the inside out. She smiled against Draco's lips, and he pulled back with a smile of his own.

"What?" he asked her, brushing a strand of hair away from her near perfect face.

She sighed. "I don't know , Draco. I'm just really happy. I feel good, and whole, and like I can take on anything."

"You're a silly girl."

This made her frown. What was that supposed to mean? Did he not feel the same? She felt foolish now, and wished that she could take back her words. She was beginning to think that their relationship was purely physical and teasing in nature, and that they would never have substance. This scared her, because she couldn't really deal with the thought of letting him go just yet.

"Hey," he whispered against her lips. "Don't be sad. I just meant that those words were silly because they needn't be said. I know how it feels to be happy, Astoria, and I know how it feels because of you. I don't think you understand how I work."

She cocked an eyebrow. "How you work?"

He laughed then, just a quiet chuckle. He smoothed out her eyebrow with his thumb, and grinned as it relaxed under his finger. "That's why I like you, because you trust me for some ungodly, unknown reason. I've never been with one girl, ever. It's just...I don't know...hell. This is hard."

"You're a silly boy."

"Oh yeah?" he replied, with a cheeky grin. "Tell me how silly I am."

She kissed his forehead slowly and gently. "You're silly because you don't give yourself enough credit. You don't believe in yourself the way I believe in you. That's your biggest down fall, Draco Malfoy, your inability to believe."

He was quiet for a long while, and he was fairly sure that class was almost over, but he didn't give a damn. He had this girl in his arms, this completely insane, crazy, beautiful girl who chose to be with him. And at this point in time, he believed in one thing only.

"I believe in us..."

He said this slowly, as if tasting the words before putting them out there. He realized he felt vulnerable after, a foreign feeling to him. She could take the words and throw them back at his face, reject him, laugh at him. He hoped that would not be her reaction.

He was relieved when she kissed him hard, deeply, hands on either side of his cold, angular face.

"That's what I like to hear," she whispered in his ear.

Everything in that moment felt very right, like the world was one big puzzle and two pieces had just clicked. But while the world was clicking around them, voices were whispering in the distance, there words carried on the wind penetrating the bubble Astoria and Draco had created.

In the still of the forest, three figures emerged, one after the other, after the other...

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