Chapter 9

Astoria opened her eyes and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It said that it was two in the morning. She groaned and buried her face in her pillow. The insomnia was wearing her down, and she was tired of being so exhausted all of the time. She decided to head down to the kitchens for hot chocolate with the vain hope that it would help her fall asleep.

She trudged through the moonlit halls, just as she had the night before. The silence somehow seemed more eerie than it was previously, so Astoria hurriedly made her way down the stairway into the kitchen.

As soon as Pippy noticed Astoria enter the kitchen, she hopped up and enthusiastically tended to Astoria. "What can Pippy get for Miss tonight?"

"Would you mind getting me some hot chocolate, Pippy?" Astoria asked, even though she knew that the house elf would not deny her anything. Pippy nodded and immediately went to work making Astoria a hot cup of cocoa.

When it was done, she accepted the cup gratefully and settled into her chair as Pippy bustled around the kitchen. Astoria listened closely to see if she could hear the same laughter she had heard previously, but all she could hear was Pippy. Silence descended down the stairwell, nothing more. Once the hot chocolate had taken its toll, Astoria slowly made her way up to her room.

When she entered the corridor containing the bedrooms, she was surprised to see light coming from underneath Draco's door. It was unusual though; the light seemed to flicker, and it was not the color of light from a wand or a lamp. She walked toward his bedroom to investigate. As she got closer, she felt heat coming from the door. She tried to open the door, but found that it was locked.

"Draco! Wake up! Open the door!" She continued yelling for a moment before realizing he was either still asleep, or too injured to move. She threw herself against the door in hope that it would open, but instead it seemed to implode into his room. Thank Merlin for sporadic magic.

She ran into the room and saw that the curtains hanging around Draco's bed were in flames. He was still in the bed, and it was quickly becoming engulfed with the fire. When she noticed his wand on his bedside table, she grabbed it and cast Aguamenti charms nonverbally; it was faster that way. After the fire had been subdued, she immediately went to his side.

There were burns along the left side of his body, and she was relieved that they were minor and could be easily healed with proper magical care. Nearly all of the hangings around his bed were burned beyond recognition. Draco was lucky he was not hurt worse.

She was internally debating whether or not to wake him up when she heard a small moan escape through his lips. He scrunched up his face in pain, and wiggled on the bed as if he was trying to move. "Don't move." She spoke softly. He opened his eyes in alarm, and questioned her nonverbally.

"Somehow, you were on fire. I was coming upstairs from the kitchen when I saw the light coming from under your door." He motioned toward the wand in her hand. "I used it to put out the fire. I didn't have mine on me at the time." He nodded slowly and tried to sit up. Astoria moved to stop him.

"Don't. I'm fine." He sat up and leaned against his headboard, wincing in pain. "Go and get your wand, please." Without asking any questions, Astoria went and retrieved her wand from her room. She re-entered Draco's room and found him painfully flexing his fingers, arms, and legs, checking the extent of his injuries.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

"I've had worse." He did not elaborate, and Astoria felt curious and scared as to what could have been worse than burns over half of your body. She did not bother to ask him, for she knew he would just brush her off. "Can you go call Libby for me? She will be able to fix me up quite well. And make sure Pippy takes over Libby's normal duties, please."

Astoria quickly found Pippy, and told her everything that had happened. The house elf let out a small squeak and hurried to find Libby. Libby met Astoria in the kitchen and the two of them quickly made their way up to Draco's room. When they got there, he was reclining against his headboard and he looked fairly calm.

"Astoria, would you mind checking on Scorpius for me?" Draco asked. Astoria nodded and left to check on the young boy.

She had a gut feeling Draco really only told her to check on him so that he could get her out of the room. There was something odd going on, and it seemed as if he didn't want Astoria to catch on. Astoria was wracking her brain to come up with a logical explanation for Draco's sudden combustion. She knew wizards didn't spontaneously combust in their sleep, so something had to be going on.

She quietly entered Scorpius's room and saw him fast asleep on his bed. She smiled at the sight of his sleeping form before silently closing his door and leaving his room. She walked over to Draco's room and gently rapped on the door. "Come in," he called from inside. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"He's fine. I don't think he heard a thing; he's fast asleep," she told him. He nodded, electing not to speak as Libby fussed over him and his injuries. Astoria walked to the right side of Draco's bed and knelt on the floor.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" She asked him.

He glanced quickly at Libby, refusing to meet Astoria's gaze. She looked over at Libby and noticed that the elf had turned pink and would not look up at her master. So, it seemed Libby was involved. Draco stared at his burned side, not answering Astoria for a few moments.

"It was just an accident. I must have accidentally done something in my sleep; you know how unpredictable magic is," he said gruffly, effectively ending the conversation; or so he thought.

"Do you think I'm some incompetent little girl? Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Grown wizards don't just spontaneously combust in their sleep! Maybe when they're awake and lose control, but not when they're asleep! There is something that you aren't telling me, Draco," she said; it was not a question. She saw fear flit across his face, but only for a moment.

"Yes, there is something I need to tell you." Astoria was momentarily relieved that he may actually start trusting her. "We are having guests during the first week in October. Scorpius's birthday is on the second and I would very much like some of my friends and family to meet you." Astoria nearly choked on the air she was breathing; she wasn't expecting that.

"What?" she squeaked out.

"We will be having guests. This is just a forewarning. You will probably know most of my guests in attendance. My parents and some friends from school are the main ones." She felt the breath leave her lungs as she nodded. She got up from her place on the floor and quickly made an escape to her room.

She slammed her door and sunk down onto the hardwood floor beneath her. The panic rose in her chest and threatened to strangle her. All of them, here. She would see them and they would see her, reduced to being nothing but a tutor. She tried to breathe calmly but it was futile. Her anxiety was drowning her, pulling her under. It was but a moment before she blacked out in front of her bedroom door.

"Miss Astoria, wake up! It's time for school and to learn." Her head was pounding in beat with Scorpius's banging on her bedroom door a few hours later.

She groaned and picked her aching body up off of the ground. Her neck and back hurt from sleeping at a bad angle on the ground, and it hurt to move. As soon as the door was clear, it sprung open and a little blonde boy came barreling into her room. He stopped short when he saw Astoria.

"You look bad, like Daddy. Are you sick like Daddy is? Libby says he's sick," Scorpius pointed out turning his head sideways while looking at Astoria. She sort of half-laughed at his honesty.

"I'm fine, Scorpius. Go and wait for me in the library, okay?" He nodded enthusiastically and bolted from the room like a flash of lightning.

Astoria rubbed her temples and sighed. This was going to be a long day. She dragged herself to the bathroom for a quick shower, letting the hot water soothe her sore muscles. After throwing on some clothes, she gathered up the books and parchment for their lesson and hurried to the library.

She smiled when she saw Scorpius anxiously sitting at a table in the library. His small feet were swinging back and forth, his legs too short to touch the ground. When she placed the books on the table, he looked up with excitement in his eyes.

"What are we learning?" he asked eagerly as his eyes traveled over the books and parchment on the table.

"Well, why don't you start of by telling me what you dad has already taught you?" she asked.

"Oh! I know my numbers up to a hundred and my alphabet too," he told her proudly.

"Have you started learning to read or add numbers yet?"

"No," he replied looking down at the table, a little dejected.

"Oh, Scorpius, it's okay. You are very far ahead for a five-year-old. I just needed to find out where to start. Don't feel bad, sweetheart." She squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. He looked up and the despondent look in his eye had disappeared.

"So, what are we going to do first?"

After Scorpius's quick turnaround in attitude, Astoria started teaching him the different sounds of the letters of the alphabet. She worked with him for a few hours on his reading; the smile on Scorpius's face never faded. He seemed to be soaking the information up like a sponge, and he did not even want to stop and eat lunch.

Pippy brought the teacher and her eager pupil some sandwiches for lunch, and Astoria continued teaching until noon had come and gone. Scorpius picked up the basic math just as quickly as he had picked up the basic reading skills. Astoria decided he should take a break, no matter how much he didn't want to.

"Okay, Scorpius, I think we should head outside for a little while and get some fresh air." Scorpius opened his mouth and tried to protest. "Nuh uh, Scorpius. Your brain needs time to process what you've already learned. I don't want to overload you. You can ride your broom," Astoria offered. His eyes lit up and he agreed without any more fuss.

He raced down the stairs, Astoria trailing behind him, as he made his way outside. He ran to the broom shed and retrieved his beginner broom that only rose a few feet off the ground before Astoria could blink. He hopped on it and was speeding around the garden in no time. Astoria knew that he would be perfectly fine; if he fell off, it would not be too far off of the ground that it was unsafe. She settled into the hammock and watched him fly around the garden with a smile on his face.

About half an hour later, Scorpius landed on the ground with a sleepy look on his face. "It looks like you need a nap, mister Malfoy," Astoria said scooping him up off of the ground as he dropped his broom. She had been waiting for the moment when he would run out of energy.

He immediately fell asleep with his head on her shoulder. Astoria settled down with Scorpius in the hammock, just as they had done a few nights ago. While she was watching him sleep, she thought she saw Draco approaching them from the house. "This is just peachy," she whispered to herself.

When Draco reached them, Astoria was surprised to see that the harsh look he normally had was no longer there. His gaze was locked on the sleeping Scorpius, and Astoria could have sworn she saw the corner of his mouth twitch, like he was about to smile. She looked back at Scorpius for a moment, but then turned her gaze to Draco. She was taken aback when she looked up at Draco and saw his looking at her. She quickly turned her eyes away.

"I'll take him up to his room," Draco said almost brusquely, reaching for his son.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, you had that accident last night and I don't think-"

"I'm fine. Libby fixed me up quite well. Thank you for your concern." Without another word he lifted Scorpius from her arms and headed back to the house.

Astoria flopped back on the hammock and groaned. His hot and cold act was starting to wear her down. She wished he would decide whether or not to be pleasant or a complete arse. That way, she could sleep at night. She settled back into the hammock and tried to let the gentle rocking soothe her bewildered mind.

A/N: Draco just keeps getting stranger and stranger... what's the reason? hmmmm. Thanks you to those few loyal reviewers that I have. I really love knowing what you think of the story. More reviews would be lovely though :]