Day 14: Draco-

He awaited his own court date. Astoria had come back after being dragged in front of Wizemgot. Draco insisted that if she had a day in court, he would too.. It seemed as though the days were drawing out, stretching into a full two weeks that he had been here. He wondered often about his parents, trying to convince himself that there was a chance that they were alive. Hopefully, they had escaped being captured by the Ministry, but of course, there was always the chance that they too were awaiting a court date.

Late at night, the precise time he didn't know, but it was dark enough that he could no longer see his shadow, Draco spoke out to Astoria as he lay in his cell, hands propped up behind his head. He had grown a shadow of a beard over his chin, and though the blonde hair was sparse, it was still long enough that he had to itch at it occasionally, with a lazy flick of his fingers.

"So Granger presided over it all?" Draco asked into the darkness, thoughtfully blinking. He could just see Astoria's figure moving around her cell, stretching her legs.

"For the hundredth time, yes."

"Sorry, I just can't picture it," Draco mused. Hermione Granger had been a classmate of his back at Hogwarts. He had always known her to be obnoxious, infuriatingly so, but not fearsome in the slightest. Of course, there had been that time she punched him in the nose, but he had gotten back at her in their fourth year by hexing her teeth. Most of all, though, his memories of Granger were usually dominated by her overly eager classroom demeanor, where she refused to shut up. Maybe dominating over a court did suit her.

"You would have if you had seen it," Astoria argued. "Scared the shit out of me, she did."

"Then I wouldn't have to picture it," Draco pointed out. He scratched furiously at the scruff that lined his jaw. "Did you…did you see anyone else there?"

He heard Astoria shake her head. She had a funny way of doing that, she always shook her head in a most determined manner, her hair swinging back and forth so furiously that it smacked against her skin like a wet towel. "No. On one hand, I wish I had. But on the other, I don't." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Who knows why I didn't see anyone else. You would have thought there would be people there…to testify."

"Yeah." Draco paused for a long while before standing up to stretch his arms above his head. He arched his back like a sleepy cat. Surprisingly enough, he found that he had grown more flexible over the past few days, but he supposed that he had too much time on his hands, and it left him with no other options. "I wonder when I'll get a court date."

"Mhmm," Astoria hummed non-committedly, her voice going up a few octaves. She sounded scared, and Draco figured that the memory of being grilled in front of Granger had probably traumatized her. He knew better than to probe her. "Maybe…maybe you don't need a court date."

"Why would that be?" Draco asked.

"I just…do you ever think it might just be easier to escape? Break out?"

Draco turned so abruptly to try to squint at her that he cracked his neck. "Why are you saying that?" He sauntered up towards the bars, pressing his chest against them in a better attempt to get a glance at her. Astoria, who always seemed so sure of herself and straightforward, had been shaken and quiet ever since she had returned five days ago. She had hardly spoken at all, and when she did, it was only about the things she had heard in court that mystified or scared her. The way Astoria had begun to speak now worried him, desperation was tinging the edges of her tone, as if she were clinging onto something that was slipping away from her.

"I don't know." She slid towards the bars and Draco could see how gaunt she looked in the moonlight. She had dark circles under her eyes, and the cocky aura that had once lit her features had since disappeared. "I've just been here for so long that I got used to it. But now I'm thinking…maybe I should try to go on the run. Get out of the country. And maybe you should, too."

"And how do you propose doing that?" Draco questioned. He wondered why she had never brought this up before.

"I really don't know." That was all she seemed to say, lately. How did your court appearance go? I don't know. Are you feeling okay? I don't know. What did they ask you? I don't know. Perhaps, before this, he may have expected her to scream her reply, overreact in the most outrageous way. It would be preferable to this Astoria, quiet and withdrawn. "I just feel that way, is all."

"I don't think that's the best strategy. I've done a lot of things I regret, Astoria. And the world knows it. Maybe its time I let the system take care of the one thing I didn't do wrong, the accusation I don't even know. Maybe then the world can see that I'm not who they think I am."

Astoria's fingers fluttered unexpectedly, and she sighed aloud. It was as if she wished to raise her hand, run her fingertips over his features, but she simply couldn't reach. He wished he were close enough to feel her touch—it had been so long since someone had reached out to him.

"I know who you are," she said quietly. "Or, in a way, at least. You were famous in Slytherin, you know. I knew you like everyone else did, but maybe even a little more." She lowered her lashes. "And knowing what I do, I'm being serious when I tell you this: go on the run. Go on the run and don't look back."

Day 141: Astoria-

She lied to him, because try as she might to deny it, she was still in love with Draco Malfoy. He was simultaneously both the boy who had protected her, and the boy who needed her protection. He had been cocky, and now he was broken. And, as Astoria had learned, there was something about Draco Malfoy that made him a wanted commodity. A hunted commodity, people were looking for information that could destroy him. Astoria knew that he was in danger now, from the very power that was supposed to protect the people.

There was a very simple lesson that Astoria had learned long ago, back in school, and continued to practice long after. Do not trust anyone. But she trusted Draco Malfoy, for more than one reason, and she guessed that he probably felt somewhat similar. And for someone who knew that trust was a rare blossoming of emotion, she decided to protect that precious flower with all her might.

How was your court appearance?

I don't know, she said, to keep him quiet. She did not want to worry him.

Are you okay?

I don't know, she said, when she really wanted to say: no, I'm worried sick about what might happen to you.

What did they ask you?

I don't know, she said, to keep him in the dark. The less he knew, the better off he would be. If he were in the dark about crimes the Ministry thought he committed, he could hardly implement himself, could he?

She suggested one night that he escape. He had approached the bars of his cell so quickly that she could almost hear his bones crackle as they collided against the iron. When he asked her how, why, all she could say was:

I don't know. I just feel that way, is all. She felt that way because she wanted him to get away from her. She knew, deeply seated in the darkest caverns of her mind, were things about Draco Malfoy that, if under the influence of veritruserum, could put him in jail. She had yet to figure out what these memories were, but it seemed pro-active to get him out of the way before she figured out anything that could hurt him.

"But where would you go?" Draco asked from across the hall. He tilted his chin upwards. He still bore the slightest remnants of being arrogant, but it was a faded look now, replaced by a hardened sense of empathy that shone though only at the right moments.

Astoria shrugged. "I can wait it out."

She had waited for things before. Secretly, though she had never told a soul, she had waited for years for Draco Malfoy to notice her. She had hoped that one day, he would see her as a woman, someone with a body and mind as mature as his own. Someone he would find sexy, not a person that gaped on him, not a little girl he could call 'kid.' Funny enough, her moment had come just two weeks ago, and even then, it seemed that she would have to wait a little longer, just to protect him.

Draco slid down to the floor. "I want to get out of here, I do. Probably just as badly as you do. But I think it's important to be patient. At least for now."

"What does being patient ever get you?" Astoria snapped suddenly. "Be patient all you want, but usually it leads to talk and no action."

"How would you know?" Draco replied, a smirk spreading over his face.

Astoria felt her stomach drop, and she tried to smirk right back. "Being patient leads to long bouts of waits that do nothing but eat at you until you feel like you're tipping on the edge of the world, about to fall off."

"Hmm." Draco cocked his head. "You seem to know a lot about that." Astoria was quiet. "You don't have to tell me why."

"I'm sure you've heard already. At school, around school." She shrugged. "Everyone knows." He may have known already, but Astoria wished he didn't. At the same time, she knew what she was about to get herself into. She wished he didn't know, but she was offering up a piece of herself to him. Maybe enough to change his mind, make him eager to leave. Eager to get away from patience.

"I hate to say I don't know anything about you, but I'm afraid the gossip surrounding you never quite reached my ears at school."

Astoria, despite what she was about to reveal, felt the tips of her ears turn pink.

"When I was in my fourth year, I met Roger Davies. That Ravenclaw, you know? A few years older. Quidditch Captain. Anyway, he became interested in me. And I was so flattered. Because when I was fourteen, I flew under the radar a lot. I wasn't extraordinary at anything, really, but Roger told me different. He asked me out and I said yes, because I wanted his attention, and I loved it desperately. There had been another boy, you see, but he paid me no mind. And Roger did, so I accepted that attention." Astoria swallowed, her voice crackling as she retold the story she had long tried to forget. "When he first took me out, Roger took me to the shrieking shack, to try to catch a look at the ghosts in the place. And before I knew it, we were inside there, and he was kissing me."

"Astoria-" Draco began, his brow furrowing deeply. She held up a hand to stop him.

"I liked it. I wanted him to. And I still craved his attention. And you know what happened then? I gave him myself in return. A little bit of attention for a part of me I hadn't even begun to explore yet. I let him…" she shook. "Put it in me. I was so young, and I hadn't even gone so far as to even take of my shirt in front of another boy yet." Draco watched her with silent eyes, empathy shining through. "When it was over, he told me to wipe the blood of my thighs, and he took me back to my room. I waited for him to send me an owl, ask me to eat with him, ask me out again, even just say hello. And you know what? He never did, Draco. He started dating other people, and that's when I knew. Patience does no good for the people who worship it. Patience locks you in a trap that you can't break from, and you just wait and wait until it's broken you."

"I'm not broken," Draco protested. "And neither are you."

"Not yet," Astoria corrected him with a tilt of her head and a wry smile. She didn't say what else was on her mind—that very soon, if he did not abandon his ideality of patience and justice, both of them would be broken.