Please remember, this is NOT the newest chapter. Go and read chapter nine, that is the newest one before I revised and condensed all the previous chapters of the story. Also, remember, this is the SAME story, all I did was take those 23 chapters and put them together in longer blocks. Thanks guys, please review :)

September 25; Great Hall and Library

"I hope you have nothing planned for tomorrow," said Draco as he caught up with Astoria right before lunch. He took a moment to slip his hand in hers, just to feel close to her. She responded with a bewildered look as they strode into the Great Hall for lunch. She tugged him towards the Ravenclaw table, and after a seconds hesitation, he sat down beside her and her friends.

Mimi and Helia took one look at each other before Helia stuck out her outstretched palm. "Cough up, love."

With a protesting grumble, Mimi fished around in her pockets and produced a considerable amount of Galleons. "There, happy? You win, she wins, he wins. Merlin."

"Quite happy, thank you!" Helia replied with an easy smile. She promptly stuffed the Galleons into her school bag and resumed eating.

Draco looked on in fascination as the girls interacted with each other. They were so easy, and he likened their relationship to that of flowing water; always smooth and flowing. He looked at Astoria with questions written on his face, this time, he was confused. Galleons? What had been bet on?

If he had any guess, he would have bet his life savings that it was on him and Astoria.

"Don't ask," Astoria told him with a small, knowing smile on her lips.

He nodded, not really wanting to ask anyways. "So, ladies, I hope you don't need Astoria tomorrow, because she'll be with me the whole day."

"Oh really?" asked Mimi. "Shaking up, are we?"

"He's obviously taking her to a private island!" offered Helia.

"No, clearly to his villa in France."

"Or maybe his chateau in the Swiss Alps."

"But you know how Astoria prefers the sun."

"Bora Bora, perhaps?"

"Alright guys, I'm leaving now and taking Draco with me before you kill us with unhealthy banter, good day to you!" Astoria finished while getting up. She grabbed a bun off the table and Draco's hand and led him away from the Great Hall. Behind their backs, her two friends were still cackling madly at all the absurd places Draco might bring her.

"So, I really hope you're taking me to your villa in France," said Astoria. Really, she did love France...

"Don't be silly," he laughed. Astoria looked downcast.

"It's a villa in Italy, not France," he corrected in all seriousness.

"All silliness aside, Draco. Where are we going tomorrow?" she wondered looking up at his handsome face. She loved his face, and everything that was attached to it. Astoria assumed she may go love sick any moment.

"My mother sent a letter to McGonagall, she says there's a family emergency," he explained, leading them towards the library. He opened the great oak doors and tugged her along until her reached the very back of the book room. He sat them down on an arm chair, snuggling her into his lap, her head resting under his chin. He loved this.

"My mother also said she wanted you to come," Draco told her, stroking her honey hair. "Now why would she say that? How would she know?"

"I may have written a letter to my mother..." mumbled Astoria against his chest. She liked to breathe him in, all the mint and pine needles and just Draco. It was heaven.

He chuckled softly and placed a kiss on her head. "But listen, Tori. I want you to understand one thing; under no circumstances are you to wander around the house alone, okay?"

"I can take care of myself," she replied with as much conviction as she could muster. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, it's not you I don't trust, it's everyone else," he soothed her. "There are some things in that house that I would rather you not see."

His voice broke a little at the end, and this surprised even him. He didn't need any more problems; things seemed to be finally looking up for him. The last thing he needed was Astoria to run into his father, if that happened all hell would break loose. He hadn't seen or heard from his father in months, and he wasn't sure of the mental stability of the estranged man. He supposed he wanted to keep the image of himself as clean as possible, for Astoria, if anything. He just needed things to go normally for once. He just needed to impress this one girl.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" she said gently, reaching to cup his angular cheek in her hand.

"I know, I just don't want to burden you, or whatever..."

She laughed. "Is it so hard to just show genuine concern for someone, Draco?"

"What do you mean by that, I am concerned for you! Merlin, Astoria, what else do you want me to say?" he hissed. What the bloody hell had just happened? He had clearly shown concern. Sure, he had mumbled a bit, but whatever, right?

Hell.

"I want you to tell me what's wrong. I want you to trust me enough to tell me things about your life," she implored. What was the point of a relationship if you didn't have trust?

"I do trust you, okay? Just drop it, there's nothing to talk about. Just be careful, and that's that," Draco said with an air of finality.

Astoria nodded and extracted herself from his arms. She disentangled his fingers from her hair and stood before him. Taking a deep breath she smiled tightly, not willing to let him see how hurt she really was. "I'm going to bed. Come find me tomorrow at five, okay? Goodnight."

She walked away.

Draco sat in the chair and watched her saunter away, her head held high. Damn it, why did she have to be so stubborn? He knew by the way her eyes flashed and they way the shined like glass before she left that she was mad, possibly even upset, maybe even sad. Worst case scenario, she was all three. This, of course, was bad news for him. He had a girlfriend. A very angry girlfriend, which was pretty much as good as no girlfriend at all.

It's not like he didn't want to tell her, he just wanted to spare her the details. Truth be told, she was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he needed her to stay with him, for his sake. He needed her to understand. And he couldn't figure out what made him get up out of his chair, and stalk down the corridors of Hogwarts and end up right in front of Ravenclaw Tower.

Just because he didn't know, doesn't mean he didn't do it.

September 25; Ravenclaw Tower

So there Draco sat, alone on the cold floor, in front of the door to the Ravenclaw dorms. What could he do but wait for some poor Ravenclaw sod to help him out? Luckily, or unluckily, for him, the two people who could have helped him most decided to walk by at that very moment.

The two girls chattered excited, the taller of the two waving her arms in the air to better illustrate her point. As the approached him, he ransacked his brain for a mildly intelligent thing to say.

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in," Mimi simpered, coming to stand before Draco. He lifted himself off the floor and for some reason found himself quite intimidated by the vivacious red head.

"Be nice, Mi, he looks a little upset," pointed out Helia, a gentle tone lacing her tiny, bell like voice.

"I bet he got in a fight with Astoria," suspected Mimi with a catty smirk.

"I bet she walked away," added Helia.

"I bet you need us to get you into the dorm," the red head finished.

"What are you girls, mind readers? Psychologists? Mediwitchs?" he cried, an air of exasperation surrounding him. Merlin, girls confused him.

"Calm down, Malfoy, all you have to do is ask," replied Mimi, quite sardonically, if Draco could say so himself.

"Can you get me in? Please..." he added as an afterthought.

"Wow, that was miraculous, really," said Helia.

She made a move towards the door, answering a cleverly worded question Draco paid no mind to. The door immediately opened and the three students piled inside, one after the other. "She's upstairs in her room, second to the left. The stairs have been charmed to let boys up," Helia said with a wink.

He nodded his thanks and bounded up the stairs, marvelling at the charm work. Draco stopped in front of the second door to the left and firmly knocked. "Tori, let me in."

He heard footsteps behind the door and then they stopped. "I don't think so, Draco. You're going to stay right there."

"Come on, I just want to talk. I want to...apologize," he choked out. Why was this so hard?

"So talk, I'm listening," she told him. He could practically picture her crossing her arms.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, okay? And that I do want you to know I trust you. I need you to know that you are one of the only people I have ever in my life, okay? You've got me standing here, blubbering like a complete idiot, and I don't know what to do, because I've never felt like this before, and Merlin, I just keep talking! Why aren't you saying anything?"

At first there was silence, and then, the creaking of an open door. It was just a sliver and he was swiftly pulled in. Astoria grasped him by his shoulders and slammed him against the door in the dark room. "Don't ever do that to me again. Don't you ever shut me out," she hissed, very close to his ear.

"I promise, I just wanted to save you the trouble of-"

"You should never think that I can't handle the things in your life," she whispered. "I chose to be with you; therefore I accept everything that comes with you."

He nodded, unable to say anything. He didn't remember the last time someone had accepted him without question. So he kissed her, grabbing her face in his pianists hands, because he cared for her so much. He tangled his fingers in her hair and drank from her like a dying man in a desert.

And when they broke apart she rested her head against his chest and led him to her bed, curling up against his side. "So, tell me what's got you so worried."

He traced his fingers along her curved back and sighed. "I just don't trust the people in my house."

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I mean, I trust my mother, and I even trust the bloody house elf. It's my father I don't trust," he replied, his voice getting rough at the end of his sentence.

"I thought he was okay, you know?"

"No, he's not okay. I haven't seen him in the longest time, I don't even know if he's completely sane," Draco admitted softly. "I'm just embarrassed, Astoria. I used to look up to my father and idolize him, and now I just feel ashamed."

"Listen to me, you are not your father, do you understand? I don't care what you did in the past, what matters now is the present and the future. The future looks bright for you," she predicted, a blazing smile on her face. He could see her teeth shine in the dark.

"I know, I just can't help but feel guilty."

"That will disappear in a while, guilt doesn't linger forever," she said wisely.

They were silent for a while; the only noise in the room was the rise and fall of their chests. Draco broke the silence.

"I like you, Astoria."

She smiled, "I like you, too."

September 26; Professor Scuro's Office

"You wanted to see me?" asked Draco when he walked into the dark, gloomy office.

Scuro sat behind her desk, hands folded neatly onto of each other. Her black hair was parted down the middle and captured in a low bun at the back of her head. Draco was reminded of the Grim Reaper when he noticed her in the room, and the thought made him nervous.

"Yes, I heard you're going to visit your family today, correct?

"Yes," Draco answered. Where was this going?

"And you are taking Ms. Greengrass with you?" she questioned again.

"Yes," Draco drawled.

"I see."

The room fell silent and Draco shifted in his seat. "Can I go now, Professor?"

"Yes, you may, Draco. Give my regards to your father, will you?"

"Of course," he said tightly. Don't hold your breath.

"And do be careful," she said with a snake like smirk.

Draco left the room, eager to be relieved of her slimy presence.

September 26; Headmistress's Office

Draco and Astoria stepped into McGonagall's office at approximately five fifty in the afternoon. They wear dressed simply in black jeans and tee shirts, and even McGonagall could see that they fed off of each other's energy. "Alright, the portkey should activate any minute, if you would kindly place your hands on it."

Both students placed their hands on the portkey. It was a ratty looking goblet engraved with the Crest of Hogwarts. They looked at one another and smiled warmly; ready to face whatever came there way at Malfoy Manor.

"We're ready, Professor," said Astoria, keeping her hand firmly on the goblet.

"Right, please, do be careful," reminded the older women, a careful smile on her weary face.

The goblet glowed brightly for a moment, and there was a flash of light, a tugging sensation, and then silence.

Draco stood in the middle of McGonagall's office, his hand still clutching the goblet, looking bewildered and confused. Across from him, the floor was empty, just disturbed air floating opposite him. With a pang of pain somewhere deep in his chest, he fell to his knees with an awful realization.

Astoria was gone.

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