It was a quiet day for Astoria, as she walked down Diagon Alley humming the lullaby she sang to Draco at times. Merlin she missed him, she wished he could come back from Italy soon.
"Astoria!" Someone called behind her, "Hey, Greengrass! Thank Merlin, I thought you wouldn't stop." Anthony Goldstein said, dragging Terry Boot along with him.
Astoria was surprised to notice that Terry still shied away from her, years had passed since their break up and he still got flustered around her.
"Anthony! Hello!" She said cheerfully, "Hi, Terry."
Terry nodded and mumbled something but before he could say anything concrete, Anthony cut in.
"What an exciting day it is today. Did you hear the news?"
"I don't really pay attention to gossip but what news are we talking about?"
"Neville! He finally proposed to Hannah, they are getting married this spring."
"Oh! That is wonderful!" Astoria exclaimed, "Is Neville at the Leaky Cauldron? Did you meet him there?"
"Oh no! Neville is at Hogwarts, we met Dean, Seamus and Ron at the Cauldron. They were teasing Hannah about it."
"Oh! It is great! I should head over to congratulate her." Astoria said, "But we must catch up soon. I will owl you about it. Yeah?"
Anthony nodded enthusiastically before letting Astoria walk past him. Astoria was sitting with Seamus, Dean and Ron laughing about something when Terry appeared next to them, followed by a confused Anthony.
"Boot! Goldstein!" Seamus crowed, "Come on join us."
"I need to talk to you."Terry said quietly, looking directly at Astoria "Privately."
The three boys exchanged looks, as Astoria nodded and hopped off her stool.
"You have a ring." Terry stated as soon as they were out of everyone else's earshot.
"Astute observation, Terry." Astoria replied with a smirk, "I am impressed."
"Who?"
"None of your business, honestly. Ask politely and I will consider telling you."
"Don't play games with me Greengrass." Terry said angrily.
"I am not playing any games with you." Astoria said, her temper flaring. The nerve of this man!
"Honestly, why do you care Terry? Last I checked, you bailed on me without an explanation." Terry opened his mouth to say something. "No. Let me finish. I asked you once and when you didn't give me a well deserved answer I left you alone and moved on. You don't get to make me the bad guy here. I got engaged to someone who loves me and I am happy with him. I don't owe you any answers or explanations."
"I know and I am sorry." Terry said backtracking, "I was wrong to treat you like that but I still care about you Tori. I just want to be sure that you picked the right man."
Astoria snorted, "Please! You just want to know if he is better than you. Listen Terry, we are not teenagers any more. I have come a long way from being a teenager. I suggest you try growing up too." She said, making her way back to the table.
"Is he that bad?" Terry asked loudly, he sounded desperate. "Are you this ashamed of him?"
The tables around them went quiet.
Astoria shook her head and continued walking to the table. She had almost reached the table when Terry said the unforgivable.
"You are such a hypocrite." He shouted, struggling against Anthony who was trying to push him out of the leaky cauldron. "At the end of the day you will marry a Death Eater like your sister did."
"My sister married a man who risked his life as well as his family to save all of you from torture." Astoria thundered. "Had it not been for him, you wouldn't even be standing here. Don't you ever forget that!" She screamed pointing her wand at him.
"And as for me. I am marrying a man who would rather die for the people he loves than give them up to save himself. I am proud of the person he is. Draco Malfoy is twice the man you will ever be!"
There was a collective gasp from the occupants of the room. Ron immediately placed himself between Astoria and the rest of the room, daring them to do anything funny. Dean and Seamus flanked Ron covering Astoria completely.
Terry let out a derisive laugh, "Of course! You would marry a branded Death Eater to keep the line pure. You failed us all, Greengrass. You are just as bigoted."
"Mate!" Harry called from the back door of the cauldron, "If she is bigoted, then so are Andromeda Tonks, Teddy Lupin, and the entire Weasley Clan including me. I will not repeat myself again; just because he was forced to take the mark doesn't mean he was a death eater. Voldemort marked everyone who crossed his path. He was lucky he could do something to save his parents."
The crowd watched as Anthony was finally successful in pulling Terry into muggle London, sending an apologetic look to Astoria.
"Alright, Show is over. Go back to what you were doing." Hannah called before moving over to give Harry a warm hug.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked Astoria.
"Yeah. I just didn't want to declare my engagement like this." Astoria said with a groan.
Harry laughed. "Welcome to my world, tomorrow this time you will receive many letters from well wishers."
Astoria buried her head in her hands and shook her head. The boys laughed as Hannah patted her shoulder comfortingly and said, "You can always come down here, first drink for you would be on the house."
"Hey!" Dean protested, "I get crazy fan mail too."
"Please." Seamus scoffed, "You get like 20 letters in a week, think about me."
"Seriously losers?" Ron asked with a laugh, "Between Harry and I we are getting over a thousand letters per week, obviously, 80% is all Harry. Some have asked him to break his engagement with Ginny. She wrote nice replies to those."
Harry shook his head. "I wish they would just stop. Ginny enjoys them a bit too much."
"Of course she does." Astoria piped in, forgetting her troubles for a while. "I have heard about some during her visits. I wish I could read them though, they sound hilarious."
Harry mock glared at her as everyone started laughing. By the time Astoria returned home later that evening, she had forgotten about her altercation with Terry.
Astoria woke up to rapid knocking on her door. She turned in her bed and wished the visitor away, it was her free day and she wanted to catch up on some much deserved sleep.
"Alright! Alright! Hold your hippogriffs. I am coming." She called as she shuffled to the door.
An irate Draco Malfoy stood on the other side of the door.
"Draco!" Astoria exclaimed jumping into his arms, "You are back."
Draco carried her in before dropping her rather unceremoniously on the couch. He threw the paper at her when she protested.
"Explain." He said shortly, as he sat on the couch in front of her.
Astoria looked down at the newspaper in her hands. The cover had a picture of her pointing her wand at Terry who was being pushed back by Anthony. But the picture made it look like she was attacking Terry while Anthony was trying to defend him. Astoria looked at the headline.
Death Eater Army?
What does a marriage between a known and celebrated member of Dumbledore's Army and an infamous Death Eater mean for the wizarding community at Large?
-Rita Skeeter
5th January2003, London: Yes, as could unfortunately be seen from the picture, yours truly witnessed a rather disturbing altercation on the evening of January 4th,2003 at the Leaky Cauldron. Astoria Greengrass a talented healer and ex- Dumbledore's Army member was seen attacking another ex- Dumbledore's Army member and Ministry worker Terry Boot.
While the contents of all of their conversation is unclear, it is a well known fact the Astoria Greengrass and Terry Boot were in fact sweet hearts during their time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Being a fan of happy endings, I along with several others was left heartbroken when the two split up soon after graduating from school. Of course, most of us harboured the hope that one of our favourite couples would get back together but it turns out that all our hopes are in vain.
Our beloved Terry Boot was wrecked when he saw an engagement ring on Astoria Greengrass' finger. Like a concerned well wisher he asked her about the man she was to marry. Turns out Astoria not only refused to oblige Boot's polite request. She went on to threaten him when he dared question the background of her fiancé.
It turns out that one of our golden children, a league away from their pureblood elite parents is not really that different from what she was brought up to be. Astoria Greengrass claimed publicly that she is engaged to none other than the notorious Death Eater Draco Malfoy. She was heard claim that Draco Malfoy was twice the man Terry Boot could ever be.
It makes one wonder if Astoria Greengrass is really in love with the owner of Malfoy industries or has the poor girl been hoodwinked into believing that she loves him. No one can deny that the Greengrass wealth and goodwill would benefit the Malfoy family leaps and bounds and one can never be too careful especially around a Malfoy. Whatever the case be; let's hope that young Astoria Greengrass comes to her senses before it's too late.
"That absolute cow!" Astoria exclaimed outraged. "You were acquitted of all charges. How could she say that! The nerve of that woman, I am su-"
"Astoria." Draco said tiredly, "It won't make a difference. The damage is done. Our home was flooded with curse letters and howlers this morning. One of them almost got mum."
Astoria's eyes travelled to the bandage on Draco's hand, which had started bleeding.
"Your hand is bleeding." She whispered hoarsely, sliding down the couch to kneel in front of him.
"Yeah. We tried everything. It just won't stop bleeding. Thank Merlin, I snatched it away from mum and threw it in the fire, imagine what opening such a letter would do."
"Here, let me see."
"No. I think you have caused enough damage for the day." He said scathingly.
"Draco. I didn't-"
"You didn't what, Tori?" He barked, "You didn't know what agreeing to marry me meant? You didn't know that it would be a life of ridicule and ostracization? What part of this is not playing up to your expectations?"
"I didn't know that it would be this bad for your mother and you." Astoria said, trying to stem the overwhelming guilt she felt. "Terry got under my skin and I just lost it."
"Don't talk about Boot!" He hissed angrily, closing his fingers in a fist making his wound bleed more.
"Draco. Stop it! You are making it worse." She said, trying to pry his fingers open.
"And what do you care? You could always go back to Boot, your first love." He said angrily.
"Is this what this is about?" Astoria asked sitting back, "You are jealous?"
"I am not jealous." Draco said quietly, his gaze pierced through her. It was a thing with Draco Malfoy, while the rest of the world screamed when they got angry, Draco would go deathly calm and his eyes would flash dangerously.
"Damn it, Tori." He said getting up, "Don't you see what this has done? No one will ever accept us. I am compromising your life with me. You have a career ahead of you. You could be brilliant but our marriage could be a hindrance to all of that. Who would trust a Death Eater's wife with their lives?"
"What do you mean?" Astoria asked, her eyes sparkling with tears.
"I think your father was right. I was living a fool's dream." Draco said, anguish evident in his eyes. "I am not good enough for anyone least of all you."
"I don't care what anyone else thinks. You know that." Astoria said fiercely.
"Really? Can you say that you won't be affected when you receive a hundred letters each week asking you to end our engagement?
"Yes." Astoria said with conviction.
Draco looked at her sadly and shook his head. "You don't know how much a hundred people's opinion can affect your own confidence. I won't survive if you start hating me too."
"I love you, you idiot!" Astoria screamed in exasperation. "And I said as much yesterday. Give me those letters on the table."
Draco didn't move, so Astoria summoned the letters lying on her table and threw them in the fireplace.
"Now, you listen to me." She said staring at Draco, her hands on her hips. "And listen good. We are not children; I don't need the world to tell me who to love. I chose to love you for who you are. My family has accepted you and that's all that matters. So, stop being a drama king and let me look at your hand."
"Drama king?" Draco asked with the ghost of a smirk on his lips, "That's the best you could come up with?"
"Don't push me, Malfoy. I am mad at you right now." Astoria huffed.
"Why? What did I do? Skeeter wrote that article."
"Yeah and what did you do? Think about it rationally, like an adult? No! You saw the headline and decided I would be better off without you and better off with Terry! Get your head out of the clouds. The world doesn't revolve around you, it will blow over. People would be gossiping about something by the end of the week. And for the record you are an idiot and I want to hex mmmphmph"
Astoria's rant was effectively silenced when Draco grabbed her and kissed her soundly. When they resurfaced, he had a goofy grin on his face, "I love you." He whispered softly, before passing out cold on her couch.
Astoria rushed Draco through St. Mungo's after all her attempts to revive him failed.
"What happened before he fainted?" Theo asked.
"I don't know. One moment we were fighting and making up and the next he was passed out on my couch." Astoria said frantically.
"Did he eat or drink something at your place? Merlin, he is burning up!"
"He didn't. We were fighting and then I asked him let me look at his- Oh My God! Theo, he touched a cursed letter, it opened a gash in his palm, and it just wouldn't heal."
"Okay, go call Healer O'Connor. He is an expert with curse wounds."
It was several hours later that healer O'Connor emerged from Draco's room. By this time Astoria was joined by a frantic Narcissa and Andromeda as well as Blaise and Daphne. Healer O'Connor shook his head as Astoria approached him.
"We have been able to close the wound. But the curse was a nasty one. It was designed to put a person in a comatose state forcing them to relive their worst memories till they lose all will to live. Draco was not exposed to the full extent of the curse so we hope that he would wake up in a week, but there is a chance that if what he sees is too horrible, he might give up before the week is up."
AN: Hello world! I know you people might not like me but we need to understand that the world didn't change after the war, now the bullied lot got to be the bullies in most cases. So, obviously this would happen. Hope you don't hate me.
Anyone, don't forget to review, even if you hate me. If you are new, don't forget to follow/favourite the story or me or both and please do leave a review. It helps me a lot.
Hope this was a happy read.
Much love
The fishes.