Summary: Astoria never really liked pureblood rules and customs, so when she moved into Malfoy Manor upon accepting Draco's proposal, she made sure to break a few of them along the way.

Rated: K

Genre: Romance

Warning Tag: n/a

Competition/Challenge Block:
Written For: Monthly Challenges for All (Year 3); Hogwarts (Term 14)

Hogwarts: Ravenclaw; A.7 - Elemental Magic (#3: Write about someone being adaptive.)

MC4A: Sp Bingo (3E-Honey); Ship Bingo (2A-Sharing a Blanket); Link; FPC (Not a Lamp; Ladylike; Persistence Still); Star (Pear-Shaped); Fence (Machismo); T3 (Terse; Terrarium); ICs (In a Flash (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Zed Era (Y); Ravenclaw MC; Slytherin MC; Old Shoes (Y)

Word Count: 1,000

A Room of One's Own

Astoria was far from a pureblood traditionalist when it came to the complex customs groomed into the United Kingdom's tight-knit society. She never really understood the importance of it, either. Though her father was raised under similar rules, he was quite lax about enforcing any of it on his children or family. So when she accepted Draco's proposal, it came as a slight surprise that his family had formally requested to invite her to move into their home prior to the wedding.

It wasn't something she knew was a thing until that day, and she wondered where such a practice even originated from in the first place. Draco did court her despite her objections on it, and her father did present a dowry to them, so maybe her family were simply trying to impress the Malfoys by adapting to their expectations of the families uniting.

Of course, Astoria was given her own room that was on the end of the corridor closest to the stairs. It was quite large, complete with a walk-in closet and ensuite bathroom. She had no idea what she was going to do with so much space to herself.

She turned when she heard someone clear their throat at the door. "Settling in okay?"

Astoria smiled at Draco. "I am. But I thought you weren't supposed to be here?"

"I'm not," he said, gesturing how he was still at the door. "Wards and all. I just wanted to check in on you on my way down for dinner and was going to ask if you'd join me?"

"Hm." She tapped a finger to her cheek, mock thinking. "Perhaps. But where were you coming from? I thought I was the only one on this floor."

"My room." He gestured to the right with his hand. "It's on the other end, last door."

Draco paused at the realization he disclosed where his own room was, and Astoria tilted her head slightly at him, an innocent smile playing her lips. He cleared his throat and looked away from her, but she could still see his cheek pinken some at his slip up. One of those other strange pureblood rules she didn't quite understand; her room was warded to keep men out, and supposedly they couldn't be on the same floor as their fiancé, but apparently the Malfoys didn't uphold the rigid traditions as firmly as she thought, either. She had a feeling that the males didn't have to deal with warded rooms, though.

"I see," she said slowly, moving toward her door to meet him. "What was for dinner again?"

The first week at the manor did have its adjustment period for Astoria. The space was far more abundant than she needed, never understanding the bigger is better mindset, so she had her house-elf Dizzy make a space for herself in the bedroom, which did help make it more livable for her, at least. And Dizzy really did make her section her own. Of course, she kept it on the down low, feeling like the Malfoys wouldn't exactly approve knowing a house-elf nested in their future daughter-in-law's room.

One of the things Astoria needed to acclimate herself with was the large, floor to ceiling windows that took up most of the outside wall. They were massive, and showed a lot of the estate. It was a gorgeous view, until the autumn storms came. Rain pounded against the glass panes, and despite the heavy curtains pulled closed, it didn't completely drown out its sound or the distant thunder in the distance.

Flashes of lightning streaked between the curtains seams, and Astoria was curled in her bed shaking, unable of what to do. She would feel awful waking Dizzy for comfort, so instead she found herself wandering down the long, dark corridor to the opposite end, turning to face the last door on the left.

Testing the door, she was able to twist the ornate handle open without a sound and step through the threshold. If she weren't so scared, she'd roll her eyes at such sexist hypocrisy of pureblood customs. Instead, she quietly crept across the wooden floor to her fiancé's bed at the rooms center, stilling a moment when she realized he had his curtains completely open, exposing her to the thin streak of lightning dancing across the clouds.

Her second guessing herself was lost as she slipped under the blankets and clung to a sleepy Draco.

"'Stori?" he whispered groggily, shifting when he felt her cuddling against him. "What's wrong, honey?"

Astoria only buried herself further into the blankets and closer to him, taking in his warmth and scent and safety she felt when with him. "Thunderstorms… frighten me."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders then, kissing her temple. "You can get into major trouble being in here with me."

"Let them be mad," she said, nuzzling into his chest. "I need you…"

She tensed when a loud rumble followed an unseen strike of lightning, and wandlessly, Draco had the curtains close. He held her in his arms, and she relaxed when the curtains snuffed out the monster that roared outside.

"You think I'm silly."

"Never," he responded, adjusting some to get more comfortable again. "I don't like storms, either."

Astoria let out a humming breath, curling into Draco's side. "But now you watch them through the window…"

"Sometimes, yeah."

They let the quiet settle between them then as Draco held her close whenever she tensed from the thunder. She was nearly asleep when she felt him chuckle lightly, stirring her awake just enough.

"What?"

"I quite like this…" Draco whispered back. "Rules be damned."

"Maybe I can be afraid of the dark tomorrow night," she muttered, feeling the sleep try to capture her once more. "It is a bit frightening being in that large room alone…"

"Yeah…" She felt him kiss her forehead and let out a deep, sleepy breath. "I can be afraid of the dark, too."

She knew she loved him for a reason.