By the time Astoria had found her room she was panting, feeling fevered. Though she doubted any of the magical pest bites would leave any real damage, they still had a couple of random and unfavorable side effects. They were also completely avoidable if she had just chosen to not sleep outside like an animal. Honestly, what would her mother say?

She went to pull off the thick coat that was adding heat to her fevered skin and groaned when she realized she hadn't given it back to Theodore. The last thing she needed was a piece of another man's clothing in her bedroom and there was no appropriate way to return it to him without ending up in another uncomfortable situation. It wasn't as if she had meant to end up in such a situation with him. What was she meant to do? Ignore him when he had spoken to her? That would have been a poor decision as well.

Or she could have avoided it entirely if she had simply not fallen asleep wearing barely nothing on that bench.

She grit her teeth, stumbling slightly to her bathroom. Mistake after mistake. Why? She never got herself into such predicaments before. Draco must have a horrible effect on her. Or perhaps she wasn't as well put-together as she had thought. She shook her head at herself and turned her shower to cold, stepping in carefully so she wouldn't fall, slowly warming the water as her body temperature leveled out to something more bearable before she began to scrub herself down, grimacing at the stinging bites. She tried to imagine if Draco would be cruel when he confronted her. She knew he would confront her. There was no way he wouldn't know what had happened. She was sure Theodore, despite the kindness he had shown her, was taunting him about it. Perhaps he just wouldn't care. He didn't seem to care about anything at all.

Of course he would care. No matter how little he cared for her she knew that if there was one thing he did still care about it would be his pride. A man's wife having a relatively intimate interaction with another man was definitely something that would hit any man in his pride as well as his image. She shivered and turned the shower off, wrapping her towel around herself tightly and leaving the bathroom to get herself dressed, closing the door behind her. Yes, he would care and yes, he was sure to make her pay for it.

Astoria stiffened when she looked up, her heart jumping into her throat. Draco was there, waiting for her, watching her. He lifted Theodore's coat that he was holding slightly towards her so she would see it clearly. She stared at it silently, swallowing hard.

"Isn't this interesting?" He asked her calmly. "Now, I don't believe this is mine. But," he paused to look around the room for effect, "this manor is mine. The gardens you fell asleep in last night are mine. This bedroom is mine. That towel you're clutching is mine." Draco's voice had darkened as he spoke, and she had stopped breathing. She wondered if he would beat her or even use a spell on her. She had witnessed Lucius slap his wife once from around the hallway, so she wouldn't be shocked if Draco behaved similarly. She hoped desperately he wouldn't. He was much stronger and larger than her and he knew a lot of Dark Magic from being trained as a Death Eater.

He could really make her pay for her mistake if he wanted to. He could make her beg him to stop and to forgive her.

More fear flowed through her while she watched him drop the coat as he muttered something beneath his breath and the coat caught fire, burning up into nothing. He strode towards her until he was practically pressed against her. He grabbed both of her cheeks with one of his hands and jerked her chin up to look at him, his fingers squeezing her face painfully. She winced, forcing herself not to pull away on impulse. With his other hand he tugged the towel off of her, making her truly vulnerable to him in nearly every way. She whimpered in response, using all of her willpower not to move and try to cover herself.

"You are mine," he snarled softly, squeezing her face harder before sliding his hand into the back of her hair and grabbing a handful of it while he pushed his mouth down hard on hers and kissed her roughly.

Draco felt the girl gasp against his mouth and she stumbled back slightly but his grip in her hair held her face firmly to his. He had intended to pull away, as kissing her had only been to make a point, but he felt her mouth relax and respond slightly.

Intelligent choice.

He deepened the kiss instead, slowing the movement of his lips so she could find a rhythm to match his. It had been a bit of a while since he had touched a woman. He had been haunted with thoughts and not interested in anything. He supposed he could make an exception while he was making his point, and Astoria did feel quite nice. The girl was his wife after all and he may as well try to enjoy her at least in a small way. Her lips were soft against his and she moved them timidly. He was quite sure it was her first kiss.

Well, he certainly wouldn't allow her to enjoy it too much.

He broke the kiss but didn't loosen his hold in her hair, looking down at her reddened lips then slowly up to meet her eyes that were wide with anticipation. So innocent. So fragile.

Possessiveness coursed through him and tightened his fist in her hair, his eyes darkening once more. "Do we have an understanding?" he asked her softly, his voice dangerously low and silken.

Astoria trembled slightly and he felt her try to nod but he was holding her too tightly. "Yes, we do. I am truly sorry, Draco. Infidelity is not in my interests," she told him. Her voice came out stronger than he had expected and her tone was sincere.

He could feel her scalp against his fingers grow hot and he released her hair, pressing the back of his hand to her burning forehead. She was lucky she was having a decently mild reaction. Stupid girl.

"The fever is just from insect bites. I-" her voice cut off into a strange sound when Draco's eyes moved down her naked body to find the bites causing her fever. She seemed to have just remembered she was naked in front of him. Her arms moved in an attempt to provide herself a bit of modesty and he noticed her stomach and chest become still. She had stopped breathing. The girl was clearly painfully hyper aware of herself at all times, he was quickly noticing.

He called the house-elf to fetch him the healing potion for minor injuries from his potions cabinet, scanning the amount of bites she had. He counted seven.

"You look ridiculous and we are going to an event tomorrow," he told her, turning her body around to check the back of her, ignoring the look of hurt and confusion on her face. She had most likely assumed he was talking about her physique. She made a small cry when he had turned her around in dismay but did nothing to stop him. Three more. He examined the back of her milky thighs and his eyes trailed up the curve of her arse. He definitely had nothing to complain about when it came to her features.

He took the potion from the elf, dismissing it before he began to dab the potion on the insect bites. She was quiet while he did this. It wasn't a wonder why she had gone unnoticed in the previous years. The Greengrass family mostly kept to themselves as it was. They kept up appearances, but made sure they didn't do anything to create buzz about them. Aldrich Greengrass was a very serious man, and Draco remembered being wary of him as a child as he was always watching everyone, judgement clear in his eyes. Every time he spoke it seemed like he was patronizing the person he was speaking to, though apparently he was charming when he needed to be. Draco remembered his father angrily spitting at his mother about how Aldrich had belittled him for being a Death Eater and had demanded that she stopped inviting the family to their events. Obviously that hadn't happened. The Greengrass family was too respectable to not be acquainted with and his father had seemed to accept that.

And apparently his mother had taken a liking to their daughter.

He remembered Daphne Greengrass bitching more than once about her father's favoritism towards her sister, usually right in front of her as well. More than a dozen times, actually. He supposed then that Astoria always had been around him. She was just quiet and unnoticeable next to her louder older sister. After seeing both sisters fully, Draco easily preferred Astoria.

He turned Astoria back around and finished applying the potion on her incredibly still body. She still wasn't breathing as far as he could tell until she inhaled to speak.

"Who is hosting the event?"

"Flint."

He stood and watched her nod thoughtfully, looking past him at nothing while thinking the information over. "Okay," she replied. He was sure she was assessing exactly how to rehearse herself to act for that particular family as that was all women like her knew how to do. Keep up appearances.

Draco moved away from her with growing resentment. He couldn't stand the mindless girls. He couldn't stand any of it. So many of their people had suffered from the war, so many families separated. Yet they still had their parties and their images and he was still expected to participate in all of it while his parents were off somewhere avoiding the leeches that were coming back out to use his people once more.

"Did I do something wrong?" Astoria asked him, her voice sounding disappointed. Ah? Disappointment? Because he wasn't blown away and lovestruck after her inexperienced kissing or seeing her naked?

"Yes. You've been nothing but an inappropriate mess since you have arrived and you embarrassed me," he told her coldly, turning away from her and stalking out of the room. Her face had turned incredibly sad again when he had spoken. He chuckled coldly. What a simple creature she was.

Astoria cringed when she heard his light laughter at her expense as he left, feeling humiliated and small. He had looked so angry so quickly when he had been calm and gentle with her only moments before. She tried to think of what she could have done to incite such a reaction. She touched her lips, thinking of how he had kissed her in an almost punishing way. To show her that he owned her.

When she had accepted it and kissed him in return, it was as if he had rewarded her for good behavior by softening the kiss enough for her to really experience it. She was sure she was terrible at it. She had never kissed anyone before and certainly not while being completely nude and frightened.

She scowled and picked up her towel, wrapping it back around herself before going to her wardrobe. She had also never been seen naked before. He had been so close… Touching her. His hands were so smooth and sure. And his mouth… The feelings that she had just experienced were foreign to her. She had never given much attention to her sexual nature. No one had ever appealed to it in that way.

Well, she supposed it was a good thing that she wasn't completely repulsed by her husband. Though actually, thinking again, it was probably a bad thing. The rejection he had just given her had stung enough and it was only bound to be more painful the more she was interested in his affections.

She looked down at her bites curiously and was pleased to see them already fading into nothing, her fever as well. He was always very good at potions. Though healing potions weren't particularly very hard to make, it took a talented wizard to make one that worked as quickly as the one he had used on her seemed to. A bit of pride for her husband flowed through her and she smiled oddly. Even as he was closed off and seemed to have a dislike for her she was still experiencing pride for him.

Memories of herself as a child came to mind and she pictured herself asking her mother when she was young if her mother had thought Narcissa liked Lucius. "Like him?" She had replied, laughing lightly to herself as if Astoria had told her a joke.

"Yes, mother. I was with her today and Mr. Malfoy came past and snapped at her for no reason. It was scary."

Her mother had stopped reading for a moment as she regarded her. "Liking your husband isn't too common among our people. Everyone's marriage is different and complex, so it is hard for me to say if she likes him or not."

"I hope I like my husband," Astoria had replied worriedly.

Her mother's smile was oddly solemn. "I am sure that you will. You will at least make the best of it."

Her mother had never mentioned that Astoria would have to worry about her husband liking her.

Did she like Draco? She didn't think she disliked him, but she didn't particularly like him either. He was too unknown and unreadable and she was quite sure she wasn't getting him to open up for emotional confessions any time soon.

She was sure he was deeply haunted by the war and that was what helped create his cold and careless demeanor. A lot of them were affected by the war, especially those who were close to Voldemort. She knew Voldemort was quite displeased with the Malfoys and she thought of Draco's sixth year when he had started to change into the cold shell that she had married. Voldemort must have done unspeakable things to him and it made her angry to think about. Why would anyone participate in such nonsense? The thought of allowing a man, a half-blood, to completely destroy them and send them into a suicide war was completely and insultingly ridiculous to her. There had to be a more sensible way to maintain the beliefs they held without Voldemort and his nonsense ideas and plans.

What would happen if the new Death Eaters came for Draco? Would they want him after he had failed so badly? Perhaps they would come to kill or torture him for being weak and disappointing Voldemort. For leaving during the battle at Hogwarts. Fear seeped into her chest and she closed her eyes. She may fear a boring, lonely life but she would take it over a life filled with murder and torture a million times over. She hoped dearly they would leave her husband alone and allow her to live her quiet and empty life in peace.

She made her way downstairs after getting ready, examining the many paintings on the wall of the past Malfoy family members. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard voices coming from the kitchen and she stopped and sat herself on the bottom step, listening to the conversation between her husband and his friends. Sound conveniently traveled well in the stone covered manor.

They were discussing who they believed may be turning to join the new group of Death Eaters, evaluating the families and rumors. They were getting quite a bit wrong actually, as most of the people they were suspecting were completely unlikely and they were missing some of the most blatant people to suspect.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The Aurors are keeping a tight watch on everything at this point. They won't be able to get very far. The new leader isn't even from around here - allegedly. It's dwindled into a fan club by now. Completely pathetic," she heard Blaise say.

"Whether that's true or not we still have to be cautious. The Aurors are hardly outside our doors making sure we are all safe from "recruitment". Flint is hosting an event tomorrow night. It would be easy for him to gather all of us there and trap us," Theodore said, sounding slightly paranoid.

She snorted loudly. The Flints? They were suspecting the Flints of such a trick? Oh, please. Did they know nothing of the families in the community?

She cursed silently to herself when she heard their voices stop. They had heard her.

"Come here, Astoria," she heard Draco say coolly.

She frowned and stood slowly, walking into the kitchen stiffly where Blaise looked her up and down critically, his dark eyes lingering on her frame. She avoided looking at Theodore.

"Is there something you wanted to add to the conversation you were not invited to be a part of?" There was no emotion in Draco's voice, but she knew he was angry with her. Again. It was just one mistake after another with her.

"I just thought it ridiculous to suspect the Flint family of planning a trick like that," Astoria answered honestly. Though it would not help her to tell the truth of what she thought, Astoria still preferred not to lie to her new husband.

"I see. I suppose I do have the tendency to be ridiculous," Theodore said, amusement in his voice, surprising her that he didn't sound at least irritated at her for belittling his idea.

"I'm sure none of us would argue with you there, Nott," Draco said blandly.

"Why do you find it ridiculous, child?" Blaise asked her and she blinked at him, wrinkling her forehead at "child" slightly.

"Because the Flint family absolutely refuses to get their hands dirty and has never once even shown an inkling of desire to be a part of the war. They tend to agree with whoever they are around to avoid conflict, but rarely follow through with what they talk about. Don't you pay attention to the families?"

Blaise snorted at her question and the other two men didn't respond, but the looks on their faces told her that the answer was no. "On top of that, they are taking money from the ministry to report anything suspicious and I'm sure there will be one or two hidden Aurors there tomorrow night that they will pass off as a family friend or something or another. They have been doing that since before the war."

"What," Theodore said flatly.

"Oh, come off it. I can believe that they would avoid getting involved, but working with the Ministry? Not likely," Blaise said dismissively.

"It is true. The Flint family have lost most of their fortune and I suspect the Ministry pays them well for their secrets," she insisted.

"Where did you come by this information?" Draco asked her. He seemed to believe her.

Astoria looked sheepish and she fidgeted slightly. "People tend to not speak in hushed voices around me. Especially the older women. I have heard Mrs. Flint speak about it more than once to Mrs. Destree. The Destrees are doing the same."

"Well, aren't you the little rat. Maybe your child bride is useful after all, Draco."

She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling at Blaise's comment. She actually found him quite funny.

"Tell me, do you know what I sing in the shower as well?" Blaise continued on mockingly, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at her.

"No, not that. Though I do know of a few quiet encounters with a girl with red hair," she replied back smoothly. She shouldn't challenge him, but Blaise was not her husband.

Blaise's eyes flashed with shock and alarm and he sat back quickly, looking extremely irritated. She looked at Draco who was raising an eyebrow at him and Theodore started laughing.

"Who is she talking about? Surely you wouldn't think we'd care who you shagged," Theodore said. "Unless it was someone you shouldn't have been shagging."

"I don't know what she means. Children make up fantasies all of the time. I'm quite sure there are more pressing matters to discuss," he said tightly. "Like the fact that there are families close to us working for the other side and have been for a while. Which means they have betrayed a lot of us."

"So you believe her now, do you? I thought she was making up fantasies." Theodore said mockingly.

Draco said nothing during his friends' exchange as his eyes were unfocused, seemingly deep in thought. She wondered if he was upset by this information, and she felt worried for a moment that he might confront the Flint family. No, most of the people in her community weren't confrontational unless the perfect opportunity came to pass. There was no reason to accuse the Flints of being traitors, especially since it would benefit them now. Still, betrayal was not something to be taken lightly.