The first time Draco met Astoria, it had been at her mother's funeral.
He had been around ten years old at the time, from what he remembered - she just over year older than him at eleven.
Eurydice Greengrass, Astoria's mother, had been a Ministry employee as well as a member of one of the more prominent pureblood families (although, Draco would later learn, not one of his parent's favourite families; Eurydice and Laurentius Greengrass had been notably reluctant to take sides during the Dark Lord's first ascent to power). This meant that Malfoy's were, of course, expected to attend the funeral of the late Mrs Greengrass.
Draco remembered asking his father, as he watched him place his most formal black cloak over his shoulders, how Mrs Greengrass had died.
"She was an Unspeakable, Draco, as I told you earlier this morning. Even I don't know how she died," he said as he looked himself over in the hallway mirror, sounding as though he would absolutely love to know the gory details of the woman's demise.
Draco's next clear memory of that day was after the funeral, at the Greengrass family home. Their home was large, although not nearly as big as Malfoy Manor, an old Tudor-style farmhouse with extensive, landscaped gardens. It was in these gardens that he met Astoria. He'd abandoned his parent's boring conversation with the Minister for Magic about some new law or other, and found his way to the French windows which led out to the back garden. There, a few metres ahead, Astoria Greengrass sat on a garden bench, her feet scuffing back and forth over the stone floor. Her hair was draped over the back of the bench, a slightly frizzy mass of dark blonde curls. Draco was immediately drawn to sit with her; she was one of the only children there of around his own age (her sister, Daphne, was three years his junior and therefore not someone he was interested in talking to). He was hesitant, however; what if she wanted to talk about her mother? What was he supposed to say? What would he do if she started crying?
At that moment, perhaps sensing his presence, Astoria turned her head, and her brown eyes immediately caught his.
"Hello," she said, her voice slightly gravelly. Draco wondered whether she always sounded like that, or if it meant she'd been crying.
"Hi. I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy," he puffing out his chest in that pompous way he always had when he'd mentioned his name in those days.
"Hello Draco. I'm Astoria," she said, giving no indication that his name meant anything to her, which irked him somewhat. "Do you want to sit with me?"
Draco shrugged, but duly walked around and sat on the end of the bench. They sat in silence for a while, Astoria scuffing her shoes against the stone again until Draco suddenly asked:
"So, how did your mother die?"
He knew it was a stupid and insensitive question almost as soon as he'd said it. It was just that it had been bothering him since he'd asked his father that morning. He'd considered his father an infallible font of all knowledge at that point in time, so when his father was unable to give him an answer, his desire for it had grown tenfold.
Astoria turned her face to him, and he could see that her eyes looked slightly pink and swollen; perhaps she had been crying after all. However, her voice did not betray any emotion when she replied:
"I don't know. All dad will say is that she 'died in the line of duty' or something. I don't even think he knows. I overheard him the night it happened, shouting at the Minister. He thought I was asleep in my sister's room, but really I snuck downstairs when I heard someone apparate into the living room. I knew something had happened to mum after dad got an owl at dinner time, you see. He went all pale and sent us straight to bed, even though it was only seven o'clock, and made me sleep in my sister's room. I only have to stay there if he thinks she will need looking after, and I knew mum was working that night - I guess you just get a feeling sometimes, you know?
Anyway, I went downstairs after I heard someone apparate, like I said. It was Fudge, and dad was shouting something terrible at him. 'WHY CAN'T I SEE HER?! LET ME SEE HER BODY, THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!' and all of that, but Fudge just kept saying that it wasn't possible, that mum and dad knew about the secret nature of her work and what it would mean if she died while performing it. We weren't even allowed to see her after to say goodbye or anything - it was closed casket on Ministry orders."
Draco suddenly realised that he had been gaping at her, and promptly closed his mouth.
"So that's how you found out your mum had died? From listening at the door?" he asked. He'd never experienced the death of anyone in his own family, but it seemed to him a rather sad way to find out.
"Yes. My dad came in the next morning and told us, and of course I didn't say anything about what I'd heard, but yes, that's how I found out," she said, and turned away from him, looking instead towards the last rays of the sun as it set over the rolling hills of Oxfordshire.
Draco looked over at her. The warm yellow rays caught golden flecks dotted in her eyes, and her hair shone faintly in the light. Draco realised with a jolt that he thought she was quite pretty, and at this thought he turned away, embarrassed.
"So, I guess you'll be going to school soon, then? Have you got your Hogwarts letter yet? I don't know when they send them out, I won't get mine until next year," said Draco, in an attempt to steer his thoughts away from where they'd been.
"Well, actually, I'm not-"
"ASTORIA!" Came a shout from the house. They both turned to see an older woman stood at the doorway, wearing long, navy robes and her hair grey and straggly - Draco thought she might be Astoria's grandmother.
"Coming!" said Astoria, hopping down from the bench and making it half way to the door before she turned back to Draco.
"Thank you for talking to me, Draco. It was nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. I'll see you at school next-" but she had already turned away, walking over to her grandmother, who put a hand in the small of her back and led her into the house.
The wizard ahead of Draco strode at a brisk pace, his magenta robes billowing behind him. Draco thought this a rather garish colour for taking someone into hiding, especially considering all the precautions they had been taking - Draco hidden in a dark grey hooded cloak (he tried not to think about similar hooded cloaks he'd worn lately), and three portkeys used to get them to their destination - wherever it was. Shacklebolt had thought it best that Draco remain ignorant of where he was going.
"We will be arriving shortly," the wizard said over his shoulder curtly, as they walked through the grassy field the last portkey had taken them to. Draco did not reply, instead focusing on keeping the light of his wand steady in the dark field, and not stepping in anything unpleasant.
Draco had surprised everyone when he'd said Astoria's name - not least of all, himself. He hadn't thought of her for a good many years - and hadn't seen her in even longer. Shacklebolt, along with the majority of wizards in the room it seemed, had never even heard of the girl. It had been the wizard with the Quick-Quotes Quill who was the only one who seemed to know who she was.
"Ah...I had no idea they had a second - oh, I see..." said Shacklebolt as the assistant wizard whispered quickly into his ear. He nodded in understanding, and the assistant wizard sat back down, staring straight at Draco.
"Well, I am aware of her sister, certainly - Daphne, I believe, young Hufflepuff girl. I see no reason that she would not be a suitable host, if she is agreeable. However - Mr Malfoy, you are aware that Miss Greengrass is a-"
"Of course I do!" snapped Draco, mostly because he was embarrassed he'd even said he name in the first place.
"Very well, I will send an owl immediately," said Shacklebolt.
If Draco had been surprised when he'd thought of Astoria, it was nothing to the surprise he'd felt when he was told that she had agreed to let him hide out at her house. He'd fully expected her to say no - why on earth would she agree? He fully intended this to be the first thing he asked.
Before long, Draco and the Magenta-robed wizard had arrived at a very thin looking mid-terrace house in the centre of a muggle street.
"This is it, number 207. She is expecting you," said the wizard and with a nod, he walked back along the street, a faint pop sounding as soon as he stepped behind a large van.
Draco looked at the door; the numbers 207 were painted on sloppily in cheap gold paint, but couldn't find a door knocker anywhere. How did muggles usually let someone know they had arrived at their residence? Knock directly onto the door? He had no idea. Just as he was about to do so, Draco noticed a small, rectangular box with a button in the middle to the side of the door. He had the distinct feeling that this must have something to do with it so, hesitantly, he touched the button, and nearly jumped when a loud ring immediately sounded within the house.
The door opened in less than five seconds from the obnoxious ringing sound, and Draco was suddenly looking at the face of Astoria Greengrass.
She was dressed, unsurprisingly, in muggle clothing - a pair of light blue trousers and a grey, fitted top. Her hair was almost the same as he remembered; still curly to the point of being slightly frizzy, but now a few shades darker. Her eyes seemed darker too, he thought, though it could have merely been the dim lighting making him think so.
"Well? Come in, then!" said Astoria impatiently, when Draco remained still at the doorway, silent.
Astoria turned away from him, walking back into the house, and Draco promptly stepped in, closing the door behind him.
As Draco had expected, the house was very small and narrow. He had stepped straight into the living room, which barely had enough space for the two dark red sofas squashed into it, surrounding a large black box whose purpose he was unaware of. Unless it was hiding under the stairs, there did not appear to be a dining room at all, and the short, galley-style kitchen was tacked on to the far end of the house.
"Come up and I'll show you your room," said Astoria, as she walked up the steepest stairs Draco thought he had ever seen (and Malfoy Manor had some unusual stairs).
He walked up behind her, holding onto the railing tightly, until he came to the top of the stairs. He supposed this was the landing, if you could call it that - there was barely space to step off of the stairs before you were forced to step inside one of three rooms. The first one, at the immediate top of the stairs, was a small bathroom. The next two were both bedrooms, and he was surprised to note that they both had room for a double bed.
"You'll be in this one," said Astoria, gesturing to the one on the far end, "My housemate quit her course a few weeks ago and left. I've been looking for a new housemate but, lucky for you, hadn't found one yet."
Draco had no idea what Astoria was talking about when she mentioned a 'course', but nodded anyway, walking into the bare, magnolia-walled room and setting his small bag down on the bed.
"You haven't brought that much," said Astoria with a frown, looking at the bag.
"What? Of course I have, it's obviously magically-"
"Made bigger. Right, of course," Astoria cut in awkwardly, "Anyway, I suppose I'll leave you to sleep, it's quite late. You know where my room is, if you need anything."
"Wait!" said Draco, as Astoria turned to leave. She turned back expectantly.
"I just...I just wanted to ask something. I mean, you don't know me and I don't know you, at least not anymore, so I was just wondering...why? Why are you letting me stay here?" said Draco. Pride be damned, he needed to know!
Astoria turned fully back to him then, and her eyes looked cold, sad, almost steely.
"Because, Draco Malfoy, you are the first person of the wizarding world, except for my sister, who has willingly volunteered to see me in over 7 years."
That night, Draco tossed and turned in his new bed, his head a mess of conflicting emotions; one moment he worried for his safety, the next he wouldn't have cared if Bellatrix Lestrange apparated into the room at that very moment. One second he worried for his father, the next he hoped he ended up back in Azkaban for life. Draco thought about many things before he fell asleep that night, but the one thing he refused to dwell on was the pang of something (guilt? compassion?) he'd felt at what Astoria had said. He refused even more strongly to think about the fact that, even after all these years, Draco Malfoy still had a crush on Astoria Greengrass.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and for the reviews! I was genuinely so happy to see people favourite, follow and review my story, you are all stars. I thought it was about time you had a chapter update, so you at least know I'm not one of those 'post chapter 1 and then disappear forever' types.
If you have any questions, comments or anything else please let me know!
