Dose of Your Own

By: OurLoveIsForever

Chapter Seven: Light

"Nott, I would love nothing more that to hex that smirk right off your face." I snarled, completely irate at the dress I wore. I ran my hands along the light silver material, as it wrapped around my waist in an empire style. The sleeves started just at the edge of my shoulders and moved to billow slightly at my wrists. The cape that had been bought to match was a dark blue valor that clipped with an extravagant sapphire. I rolled my eyes at the stone and turned my eyes back to my escort. His smirk grew into a true smile. This man loved nothing more than to take the piss out of everyone around him and tonight, that was certainly his plan.

We stood at the door for a few moments while the house elves took our capes. I scanned the crowd for people I knew. Only a few faces jumped out at me. A few Ministry members mixed in with several Pureblood leaders and their offspring.

Malfoy stood across the foyer from us, his nose haughtily in the air. "Some friend I have eh, Goyle, since he brought along that harpy?" Nott lead the way toward the blond, cursing his friend, irritated.

"Oh do stop whining. It's obvious that your hate is only half hearted so give it a rest tonight." Nott muttered lowly, taking my arm in his. I did not resist, shocking him a bit I think. I knew when fighting was appropriate. It was certainly not the time.

An obnoxious laugh filled the room causing me to lose my concentration on irritating Nott and Malfoy. "Astoria Greengrass, you're still alive?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she came to stand beside Malfoy. Her talon like fingers ran along his shoulders and down his arm. I mentally gagged. The gaze he leveled at her made me want to throw at pitcher of cold water in his face. "I thought for sure that Daphne told me you had died."

"To her, perhaps." I ground out with a 'pleasant smile'. I gripped at Nott's arm with ferocity unimaginable. He winced when my strength reached its maximum.

Parkinson frowned. "Arriving with Theo Nott? Bit on the wrong side of the tracks isn't it?"

"Better than Caidean Warrington, I would guess." I tossed my hair over my shoulder a bit and smiled broadly as she turned a strange shade of purple. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nott and Malfoy grin. "Of course, it could have been worse. You could have come with Malfoy."

His smirk disappeared in an instant. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at his annoyance. "Laugh it up, Greengrass. You'll get your retribution."

"And just look at how scared I am…" I replied, deadpan. I allowed Nott to lead me away toward a fairly secluded corner of the room. The look in his eyes and the shifting of his weight told me that he had something to say. "Yes?"

"Stop pushing his buttons. The two of you are fun to watch, I'll admit. That's why I love to be around both of you, but don't forget that he's my best mate, yeah?"

His words made me feel something akin to shame. I had been the one in the wrong this time and Nott had no qualms with calling me out for it. I had no control over my mouth when Malfoy was around and I really couldn't place the reason why. Determined to not show my ass, I nodded.

"Good, good." He smiled genuinely. "Now, it appears that the masque is about to begin. Do you have the mask I gave you?"

"Of course, though it's been years since I've been to a masque."

"It's the Parkinson tradition. Pansy's mother is a very flamboyant woman and insists on it every year. Even during the reign of the Dark Lord, it continued. Now, Pansy is continuing the tradition in the absence of her parents." His green eyes leveled with a chatting Parkinson across the room. I followed his gaze, pulling my mask over my eyes.

It was not a very lavish disguise. Covering only the skin around the eyes, I didn't see how it would camouflage who I really was. A combination a silver background and a black lace overlay, it was everything I really could have hoped for in a mask I did not pick myself.

Glancing about the room, each person was tying or trying to tie the strings behind their heads. At once, the atmosphere changed and the strings were not necessary. With a wave of a light colored wand, Pansy had magicked every mask into position. "Everyone knows the proceedings. Since this is a masque, the masks will be kept on until the end of the evening. At midnight, the spell will disappear." I looked up at Parkinson, who stood up on a balcony overlooking the foyer. She still looked like a pug, even all these years later.

We had never liked each other, Parkinson and I. We barely tolerated each other. She was Daphne's friend and a right bitch. Every time that I saw her, she would lift her pug nose into the air as if I were dirt. Sadly for her, she never realized that I was the one, during occasions of extreme boredom, slipped snakes into her bed during my years at Hogwarts. Now, as I looked on her, I could see the fatigue in her features. When she thought no one was looking, her shoulders would slump and her face would go slack.

"May I ask who this beautiful lady is, Theo?" A voice said to my right. I snapped to attention.

"I would think that you would recognize me, Zabini, unless of course you have forgotten your old drinking buddy." Nott's eyes grew wide at my statement. Almost as wide as Zabini's gaping mouth.

"No!" Several heads turned at his outburst. "Greengrass, is that you under there?" He stretched out his dark skinned hand.

"None other." I grinned, taking it and squeezing. "Still a man whore, Zabini?" He barked a laugh.

"Of course. Are you still a cheeky little prude?"

I laughed, taking in Nott's completely dumbstruck face. "But of course."

"Care to explain, Greengrass?" The thin man to my side asked, his eyes darting between Zabini and I.

I grinned good-naturedly, shaking my head. "Oh, contrary to opinion, I was just as much of a Slytherin as everyone else. On weekends, if Zabini could get his hands on it, he and I would drink in the Owlry." As he sipped on a flute of butterbeer, he choked. "Why is everyone so shocked with that story?"

"No one can believe I would waste my time with you."

"Indeed, I'm sure that's it."

Laughing, we all moved to the gardens in the back. Truly the Parkinson gardens were the most gorgeous of sights. Magical candles hung around the wide open space, casting shimmering light on everything it touched. To the right of the large double doors was a large fountain, covered in beautiful gold and silver. To the left were various paths through the maze of flowers and plants.

I was lead by Nott to a corner of the garden where two wrought iron seats were placed adjacent to each other. "Ah, in the mood for discussion, are we?" I half joked, taking the seat offered me.

"Something like that, I needed to tell you something very important. Tonight, your—"

"What in hell are you doing here?"

"—sister will be here."

I couldn't see her yet from where I sat, but it was obvious she had seen me. Frozen, I kept my eyes on Nott. He had a tired, aggravated expression plastered across his face. I could hear her heels fast approaching. I wondered how she had recognized me from behind. There was no way considering my mandated hair 'makeover'.

"Nott, I thought the Parkinsons banned you after you spiked the pumpkin juice."

"That's not completely accurate, Queenie. That was when we were sixteen and all they did was kick me out that evening. If you forget, Malfoy was just as guilty…"

Her head swiveled around to glance at me. She blinked once, then twice. "Astoria?" Ah, so it was Nott she had been recognizing…

"Hello, dearest sister." I smiled up at her.

Her hands fisted at her sides. I could see her rage coming. The preverbal snakes in her hair were rearing up and baring their fangs. "Get out! Get out now!"

I rolled my eyes, catching a strange look from Malfoy across the garden. His eyes held a curious glint in them. "Now really, Daphne, why ruin a perfectly good party?"

"I can't believe this. I told her specifically not to invite you. You're never invited. Why the hell are you here?" She whipped her head this way and that looking for her pug of a best friend. Golden hair caught in the light of the candles making the devil look like an angel.

Nott chose this time to speak. "She came with me."

Daphne gaped. "She what?"

"I'm accompanying him this evening." I grinned at her irritation.

"You're what?"

"Sleeping with him this evening." Malfoy's voice floated over. I narrowed my eyes over at him, but picked up the joke. I grinned a bit at even Malfoy taking the piss out of my sister. Gently I took Nott's hand to play it up. Nott jerked his head toward me with wide eyes. Just as quickly, he smiled.

Daphne visibly was losing her sanity, which I had thought was long gone. "You're—you—Astori—"

"Come on, love. It's time for dinner." Nott helped me to stand and wrapped his arm around my waist, leading me away from my shell-shocked sister. "You see why this evening could be fun? Giving that woman hell is the most amusing activity in the world."

"More than giving me hell?" I asked as we stepped inside. I noticed that Malfoy strode in behind us, his eyes glaring directly at Nott's head.

"It's really not giving you hell anymore is it?" He replied with a slightly coy smile. "We all know you enjoy it."

I smiled in return. He had a point. Some part of me, the largest part of myself, loved to have exchanges, not only with Nott, but also with Malfoy. If it weren't for Nott leading the way, I would have gone stock still. Somewhere in my mind, I actually enjoyed arguing with the Great Prat. In fact, it was one of the few constants I had.

Nott pulled the chair out for me like a gentleman. There were strange looks coming our way from all directions. I noticed Adrian Pucey, Daphne's fiancé, throwing daggers at me with his eyes. I gave him a quick grin before engaging Lady Flint in a fairly pointless conversation over the changes in women's robes over time. By the end of the talk, I felt as if my intelligence, what little was left of it before, had disappeared. Turning to Nott, I noted that he was speaking in hushed tones to the remainder of the table. Goyle, Parkinson, Malfoy, Marcus Flint, Blaise Zabini, and Miss Ismelda Burke all listened in and spoke in their own softened voices.

"We had nothing to do with it." Goyle mumbled from his seat next to Parkinson. "I swear it, Malfoy. I wouldn't risk it."

I had the feeling that he couldn't have done it even if he wanted to. When Malfoy crooked his head to see me listening in, his eyes somehow told me that he also didn't believe Goyle capable of anything either.

Zabini sat his firewhiskey to the white table cloth. I wondered for a moment where he had procured the liquor, but with him, there was no telling for certain. "I played no party to it but I have heard a few things here and there in my travels." He glanced down toward the elder members of the party and leaned forward conspiratorially.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "We're not at Hogwarts, Zabini. Just say it."

The darker man gave Malfoy a rude gesture and continued to lean forward even if the rest of us remained in our normal positions. "It was planned. That much is for certain—"

"Are you going to say anything of use?" Parkinson said, pointing at him. "We don't have time for your silly games."

"No games." He sobered. "From what I have heard, they are making their way toward Ireland, but for what reason, I am unsure. I believe that they may have a hideout there." All heads glanced around the table until they landed on me. It was well-known that the Greengrass homestead resided in Ireland.

I held up my hands. "I know nothing."

"She finally admits it." Malfoy shot.

I gave a single laugh. "Your humor falls on deaf ears, Malfoy. No one is listening." I was right, the others had moved into theorizing what the object of the escape was and how it was done. I heard Malfoy Sr.'s name thrown in every now and then, but I was distracted. They had to have had support from the outside.

"That may be, but I don't care if they are listening. You admitted your stupidity. I feel my evening is complete."

"Is that so? That's departing from the normal for you right? I've heard the rumors, Malfoy. Your evening isn't complete until you've found some poor woman to maul." I crossed my arms over my chest and grinned at my own prowess.

He leered at me for a moment before leaning forward to place his head on his folded hands. "Care to make my evening complete then, Greengrass?"

"Not till men are made of some other metal than earth." I laughed.

His gaze was like molten metal. I felt seared by simply looking into his eyes. I wondered why that was. My heart was having difficulty even pumping. Every inch of my body froze under his gaze. Never before had anything like this ever happened. The entire room faded and I could look nowhere else. I could see farther than the wall I had run into before. He was far more open than I could remember. I could see how tired he was, how injured, and yet, for all that, I could see that spark. The flame of passion and wit burning inside him was bright. Feeling my breathing become shallow, a sweat broke on my brow.

Breaking free of his gaze, I excused myself.

"Are you alright?" Nott asked, concerned.

I nodded quickly. "Just need some fresh air, yeah?" With a speed I thought myself impossible of achieving, I made my way back outside into the gardens.

The candles were still lit, still completely whole. They must have been magicked for the wax to be un-melting. With a great amount of fatigue, I slipped into the chair I had sat in earlier in the night. My eyes closed. The moment they did, I saw those eyes again.

What in the world was happening!

"No, this is stupid! This is mental!" I whispered, taking my hand to hit myself on the forehead. I kept my eyes closed to see if some other image would enter my mind. Everything was screaming in every different direction. I couldn't possibly make sense of it all. He had bared himself in front of me. Mentally, of course. It had caught me completely off guard and I couldn't grasp why he would do such a thing.

Sighing, I tried to relax. It was nothing to worry about. The shock of the whole thing, that was had made me run.

Nothing else…

"Astoria Greengrass, the loose cannon daughter…" A voice said to my right. I opened my eyes quickly and sat bolt upright. Adrian Pucey leaned on a sculpture nearby. "You're a right bitch, you know that? You dare to show your face here? That father of yours discovered that your mother had been sending you funds all this time. He had no idea." I cringed, using his distraction of falling over to pull my wand from my sleeve. "I don't see why they bother. A useless weakling, a whore to prats like Nott and Mal—"

"She is far from a weakling."

I glanced toward the voice. While I thought Pucey was distracted, I determined to cast a silencing spell so that at least he wouldn't be able to attack me magically. Before I could get a word out, the wand was knocked from my hand, into the rose bushes behind me. "None of that you—" His wand hand pulled back. I flinched. A burning sensation flew over my right arm, just tingling under the surface. I wondered if he was coherent enough to do any real damage. As I was about to stand, to punch the living daylights out of the daft prick—

"Now, now. None of that, Pucey. I think it best that you take your exit now. You are far too drunk to remember any of this."

Pucey spun, his wand aloft, flinging wildly from side to side. "This is Greengrass business, not yours."

The man stepped into the light, no longer silhouetted against the glow of the inside of the manor. He held his own wand directly at Pucey's chest. "It is my business. You see, Lady Greengrass is under my protection."

"She's what?" I was wondering the same thing. Just what did he think he was doing?

"Under my protection, yes."

"And just whose protection is that?" I thought for a moment that Pucey was merely being a smartass in his drunken state, but when I looked again, he was completely serious. He could not tell who the man was through the mask.

In one quick and flowing movement, his mask disappeared. Pucey shrunk back, dropping his wand. "You've always been a pain in the ass, Malfoy."

Malfoy merely sneered as Pucey picked up his wand and weaved away toward the front gardens. I wondered just how much alcohol he had in his system to cause such stupidity. Not that he wasn't already clinically ignorant before…

I allowed my eyes to move from the retreating form of my almost brother-in-law to the platinum haired man standing just a bit away from me, his arms at his sides. I noted that he still had his wand in his hand, ready for anything.

We stood there staring at each other for what felt like hours. In truth it could have been only a few minutes. I was unsure of the exact time. It felt like a time loop, doing nothing but one thing for so long. I had many thoughts running rampant through my head. Malfoy had said that he was my protector. That was certainly a lie if I had ever heard one. I would certainly not be indebted to him. Finally, I found my voice.

"The hell you are."

A single eyebrow rose. "The hell I'm what?"

"You're not my protector, far from it. I am in no need of some pansy-ass wannabe Weird Sister thinking he is so macho that he needs to protect a woman." He rolled his eyes, falling into the chair Nott had occupied earlier in the evening. His hands folded behind his head in a carefree manner as he reclined back. I remained standing. "I'm in no need of a protector!"

"I beg to differ, Greengrass. What would you have done just a moment ago? Let yourself get hexed?"

"Hell no." I said plainly. "Pucey never really follows through. He's all talk. It's never happened before. He hates me because he thinks that somehow I will ruin their 'perfect pureblood marriage' because I know a few dark secrets about him. It's a load of crock if you ask me. His hatred is completely irrational. Everyone knows that he's a complete arse. They don't need me publicizing it." I shook my head. "Daphne will still marry him though."

I turned toward him as he spoke. His eyes gave me appraising glances. It was as if he were estimating a price at some magical auction. "These events don't leave this garden, do you understand?"

Feeling somewhat like I owed the Great Prat, I nodded. "I'll say nothing if you say nothing."

He nodded and stood to leave.

This may not be good, I thought as I watched him stroll away. He was strutting once more. Slipping his mask back on just before entering the double doors, he was framed in the gold en light from inside. For a moment, he looked a bit like the images of angels I had seen in churches I had visited.

This won't be good at all.