I hope everyone had a great weekend! I have to go to the chiropractor in the morning (gross, not a morning person), and yet I'm here and up way too late writing this chapter. Why must I procrastinate so much? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! As always, thank you so much for the support. I really love you guys, and I'm so appreciative that some of you actually leave comments on every single chapter. You're so sweet! A lot of you seem to like Theo, and I'm glad you guys are okay with side characters. Happy reading!

I don't own anything from Harry Potter.

"You could have at least confronted her about where she had gone while she was still down here, Draco. Now I'm curious," Blaise said dully, levitating Astoria's water glass.

"My wife and where she goes is my own concern," Draco snapped at him. Since when are wives so involved the conversations of men and why was his wife starting the trend? He had never liked people invaded his privacy, and he wanted to keep his wife to himself.

"Well, I am certainly not leaving until I get time with her," Daphne said, raising her nose. "I came all the way here and escaped my parents to do so because it is so unbelievably dull, and you know how dull it is when I come to Astoria for entertainment. So, if you don't mind I suppose I will find my way to her room." Daphne got up from where she sat, attempting to leave in the direction her sister had gone before he stopped her with his wand.

"I do mind. She is in my bedroom and you certainly will not be going in there. Not to mention the fact she is being punished, and I need to deal with her before you go and have a loving, heartwarming time with her," he said, his voice turning to a sneer near the end.

"Punished? Oh come off it, Malfoy. Please tell me you aren't one of those men, how horribly theatric! Just give her a slap and get on with your life. Punished how? You'll make her write lines stating that you are the king of all kings and she will never disobey you again? Or punished as in you'll chain her up and whip her? In that case, what if she's into it? What will you do then? Your elaborate punishment will turn into a reward and you'll be screwed. So, I suggest you go with my advice and give up this horribly obnoxious punishment idea and allow me to see my damn sister. What do you mean your bedroom? How adorable. She sleeps in the same bed as you every night then?"

"My patience with you is wearing thin."

Daphne rolled her eyes at him, looking at Blaise and Nott. "When did he become so serious? Honestly he's acting ancient. My father is almost more lighthearted than him."

"Wondered the same, Daphne. Here I thought Blaise was meant to be the stoic one," Theodore said, smirking at Blaise as he gave him a look. "Though I'm sure we would all prefer if you would spare us the visuals on Malfoy's possible punishment ideas."

"Why is that, Nott? Do you have a problem with the thought of my wife enjoying such sexual encounters with me? To be whipped? Begging for it perhaps? Does that bother you? Because I can assure you, she certainly is very open to anything I want to do to her and has been enjoying every moment of it so far," he told Nott, his voice languid as he watched Nott's jaw tic, though his face neutral. Ah, he could fight his reaction all he'd like, but Draco knew how angry he was.

It was his turn to have the upper hand.

Daphne made a gagging noise and Blaise wrinkled his face. "Draco, I don't enjoy this talk of pedophilia."

"Malfoy, honestly, I would love to lose some extra weight by throwing up my dinner, but I can't wait long. My mother is a b-"

"Beautiful and a much too forgiving woman," came an overly sweet voice as Freya Greengrass found them in the room, her face covered in an icy smile. "Is what I'm sure you were describing me as. Correct, darling?"

Daphne let out a slow agitated sigh, closing her eyes in annoyance before she turned her head slowly to look at her waiting mother. "Of course, mother. Only two of your abundance of positive qualities."

Draco examined the woman, comparing her to the young girl he had watched in his mother's memories. She had aged gracefully as there were only slight differences in her appearance as a teenager and her air of confidence just as strong, though she was dressed much more modestly than she had in her Hogwarts skirt that she had seemingly shortened and her made up face along with her expression was much less suggestive.

"How are you, boys?" The woman asked, smiling tightly at each of them, the smile not reaching her green eyes that matched her eldest daughter's.

Blaise gave a slight shrug in response, sucking his teeth as he eyed the woman, his shameless eyes running down her figure.

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Greengrass. And you?" Nott said, smiling charmingly at her.

Freya blinked and tilted her head towards Nott curiously, her eyes flashing with amusement. "Oh, how wonderful. A Nott male speaking to me, how refreshing! Well, dear I'm doing as fine as most of us are, how polite of you to ask," Freya told him, her voice silken.

Theodore's mouth twitched at her response but kept his smile, the typical arse kisser that he was and always had been.

"Would be quite a bit better if my new wife wasn't leaving the Manor directly after my orders telling her to do otherwise," Draco told her flatly.

Freya watched him for a moment, worry clouding her eyes for a moment before she tsked. "Oh, Astoria. A horrid brat at times."

"More like most of the time," Daphne scoffed, fiddling with a piece of her hair.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she still just needs time to be broken in as a new wife," Freya said, smacking the hair out of Daphne's fingers and ordering her to sit up straight. "Allow her down though won't you, Draco? As I'm here I might as well see her."

He waited for a moment, deciding on whether or not to argue with the woman, before calling the house-elf to go and fetch her. It would be cruel to not allow her to see her daughter, and he doubted this woman would easily accept no as an answer. "Oh, mother! You're ruining his punishment," Daphne cried dramatically before smirking at Draco triumphantly, tossing her hair behind her shoulder as the house-elf went to bring her sister back down.

"I'm quite sure he will be able to resume as soon as we have left," her mother told her, looking Astoria up and down as she entered the room again slowly, surprise covering her face as she saw her mother.

"Let's speak in another room, shall we?" Freya said, stepping to the side to leave.

"That won't be necessary, Mrs. Greengrass. We weren't discussing anything important at the moment. You aren't interrupting us I can assure you," Draco told her. No, they would stay there and speak right in front of him.

"You can bluntly put it as that you want to listen to our conversation. It's fine," Freya quipped, sitting herself at the table.

Astoria passed Draco carefully, avoiding his eyes before going to her mother to kiss her face before getting her a glass of water. "You look well, mother. I know things have been stressful, but it doesn't show on you," she told her kindly, sitting beside her. Draco noticed she had covered the marks he had left on her neck with his mouth. Shame, he had enjoyed watching Nott squirm at the sight.

Freya scoffed, scowling at her. "Of course I look well. Why would I not look well under stress? Who am I? Narcissa?"

Draco blinked and his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise before anger settled into his stomach. Had the woman just insulted his mother in front of him?

"Mother," Astoria frowned and looked near Draco, but not directly at him as she shifted uncomfortably. "That is a very insensitive thing to say."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my mother in my own home," Draco said coldly, examining the woman with distaste.

"Now, Draco. I attempted to take this conversation to another room, didn't I? I meant no offense, of course," Freya said innocently before looking to her daughter, "Thank you for chastising me, darling, but I remember myself the mother. Draco was just telling me how you blatantly disobeyed him. Why do you want to cause problems for yourself? I'd like to keep you in one piece hopefully."

"There is nothing she could do that would warrant not being in one piece, Mrs. Greengrass," Nott said stiffly.

What a gentleman.

"Aw, how sweet. Acting as if you're unique in morals compared to the rest of the men around you. Must be a family trait. Yes, that may be true, Theodore, but stating that fact doesn't change much does it?"

Draco's irritation for the woman faded slightly as she criticized Nott for his holier-than-thou attitude, watching his wife carefully for any emotional reaction towards Nott's words.

"Adrian Pucey was informing me that his mother had been asking about Daphne, mother," Astoria told Freya brightly, changing the subject.

Daphne bristled and she stared at Astoria. "Oh how dare you," she said, her voice low.

Astoria's mouth twitched as she fought a smirk and she returned her sister's stare with a mockingly thoughtful look. "What? The Pucey family is respectable, Daphne. I'm only trying to help."

"I will not marry Adrian Pucey," Daphne hissed, her eyes filled with resentment towards her sister. "He's an idiot and nearly disowned!"

"You two will have so much in common then, sister," Astoria said, tilting her head as if she didn't know what was wrong.

"Hmm. The Pucey name isn't horrible," Freya said, ignoring their arguing as she examined the ceiling as she spoke, deep in thought. "It is certainly better than nothing, though the son is nowhere to be found half of the time. I also find his mother quite horrendous, though that doesn't mean much seeing as I find most of the women I'm forced to interact with barely tolerable. Speaking of horrendous mothers, how is yours Mr. Nott? Still drowning in her own vomit from her constant state of intoxication?"

Nott froze, his gaze hardening in shock and anger. He searched her face, not seeming to know how to respond. Draco was alarmed at her rudeness, he had definitely never noticed this woman and her mouth until now.

"That is very low of you, mother," Astoria said quietly, looking away from her mother.

"Yes, yes. 'Oh, Freya. How could you go so low?' Yes, I've been asked it many times before," Freya said, waving her hand dismissively. "Chide me again and I will show you low, Astoria."

"Is that what Joseph Nott asked you when you betrayed him and his family?" Blaise asked, narrowing his eyes at her curiously as he gauged her reaction carefully.

Freya looked over to him, a slow smirk spreading across her face as she eyed Blaise in amusement. "No," she said after a moment, "He said nothing to be when I betrayed him and his family, Mr. Zabini. Actually, he has never said anything to me at all to this day."

Astoria frowned at the conversation, seemingly chewing the inside of her cheek and Draco twitched with desire to stop her from it. Such an irritating habit.

Blaise looked intrigued, leaning forward slightly. "Very blunt of you, Mrs. Greengrass."

"Well. I grow tired of our wretchedly fake community quite often. What's the purpose of lying about it? You were bold enough to ask." When Freya seemed to understand Nott was not planning on answering her as he sat quietly, seemingly deep in thought as he avoided her gaze, she turned back to Daphne. "I feel like it's a decent idea," she told her firmly, returning to the previous subject of Daphne and marriage.

"I would rather end up like Abigail Maisry," Daphne said coolly sitting back defiantly while still staring down Astoria.

Astoria's face curled in disgust, looking away from her with a sound of revulsion. "Please, must you say such things? That's absolutely horrendous to mention."

"Abigail Masry..?" Blaise asked questionably. Draco recognized the last name, but not the first. How did females remember all of the gossip they seemed to retain?

"Yes, Abigail. She married Mr. Masry when his wife died. He allegedly did very terrible things to her such as disgusting nonsense like feeding her spoonfuls of semen until she was so out of her mind that she hung herself. Allegedly, but widely believed. It's quite an exaggeration as well as a horribly spoiled thing of my daughter to say, and if she says it again I would be happy to arrange her to a similarly horrible man. Or, better, perhaps Mr. Masry's latest wife will pass soon," Freya said, looking coldly at her daughter, her voice growing harsher the more she spoke. Draco saw Blaise mouth "spoonfuls of semen" from the corner of his eye in disgust and his own stomach turned. "And do not think I am bluffing, darling. If you want to find out what a real horrible man is like then so be it. Good riddance." Freya smacked her hands together three times in a brushing motion. "Honestly, you're complaining about a boy because you think him an idiot? You think you want a man who is intelligent? What do you think being with an intelligent man will get you? Your uncle is intelligent. Perhaps I will have him advise me on who to marry you off to. Would you like that?"

Daphne stared at the table, all of the defiance gone from her face. "No, ma'am."

"Mhm. No ma'am. You think your attitude is going to get you anywhere? Do you think it will earn you respect from a man? No, it will earn you the title of being a "challenge", and intelligent men that you so desire love challenges and they would love to rip that spirit right out of you," Freya spat icily. "You call your sister spoiled, and here you are claiming you'd rather end up like Abigail Maisry. How dare you."

"I'm sorry," Daphne told her quietly, looking smaller than her younger sister in the moment.

"Sorry," Freya laughed coldly. "You ought not waste your time being sorry, just as a man will never be sorry for anything. If all of us were caught up on apologies, we would be suffocated by guilt. No, don't be sorry. Just listen and use your damn head. How is it your sister learned to use hers before she had a wand yet you are nineteen and still haven't even located yours?"

Daphne shook her head, seemingly fighting back tears. Astoria watched her sister, looking sad and regretful for bringing up the subject. Freya noticed Astoria's expression and shook her head. "Did I not just speak about wasting time on guilt? I have idiots for children," she snapped, her eyes angry. "Oh, stop the tears, Daphne. It's my job to ruin your self esteem as your mother."

She stood from her seat, kissing Astoria's head before leaving the room, Daphne standing slowly to follow. "Oh, and don't forget to apologize for your mother's awful behavior, darling Astoria!" Freya called before they left the Manor, the room silent for a while.

What a show.

Astoria pressed her lips together, looking uncomfortable. "Yes, she is a bitch," Blaise confirmed, looking highly amused. "What a charming mother you have. Fantastic really."

Draco watched her carefully as she frowned at Blaise's comment, wondering how she had come out the way she did with such an abrasive woman down her throat.

"What did she take from you, Astoria?" Nott asked, his voice vacant of its usual charm.

Astoria looked at him, surprised at his question. "Nothing. I don't know what you mean," she answered and tilted her head, her voice sounding sincere.

Draco knew better.

"Where did you go," Blaise asked, pointing his wand at her limply, jabbing it in her direction.

"I thought I already stated that it was my concern and not yours," Draco said shortly, standing. "Come upstairs, Astoria. I'm sure you two can show yourselves out."

Draco ignored Blaise's protests as he made his way to his room, his previous anger for her creeping back as he listened to Astoria follow closely behind him. Once she joined him in his bedroom, he magically slammed his door shut behind her, seeing her jump at the sound as he turned. "Where," he asked calmly, attempting to breathe evenly to control his temper.

"I.. The Ableworths.." She said, avoiding his eyes as she shifted in her standing position.

"What?" Draco hissed and he moved so he was standing before her, his face close to hers. "You went right to the source of the most recent Death Eater activity? What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you think you're important enough to me that I'd rescue you if they were to hold you for ransom to get to me if they caught you? Are you absolutely mental?"

"I was safe! I was careful and safe. I know how to get around their home.. The Aurors were there, so the Death Eaters wouldn't have gotten to me," she told him quickly, shrinking back as he approached.

The Aurors.

"Oh, much better, have the Aurors catch you breaking into a family's home as they're already investigating us, a family that just murdered a handful of their beloved mudbloods," he sneered, disbelieving of the fact that she could be so stupid. So reckless. "What exactly was the purpose of this? Just for a laugh I suppose? Because you're fucking mad?"

"They didn't see me either. I was looking for something. A magical object the Ableworths had in their family for years. I didn't get much time with it before my mother took it, but it absorbs the feelings and dialogue of the people near it in recent times. I couldn't figure it out well, but I know that the Ableworths did not leave their home on their own accord. They were forced, and I'm sure they were forced to kill those people as well. Obviously, that's very bad for us."

"You risked yourself for a pathetic trinket," he said through his teeth, ignoring the rest of the information. He didn't care about that now. He cared about her, and how she had put herself in danger for a magical object.

"My father had wanted it for quite a long time.. And I learned useful information."

"I don't care what your father wants!" he snarled. "I don't care about information. You are my wife and I will not stand for you to be put in danger. This is not a war, and if it were, you would stay out of it."

Far out of it. Less involved than his mother had been.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, her light blue eyes begging him for forgiveness. He stepped away from her, looking away from her eyes. She walked towards him slowly, following him, and he stood still as she approached him, his chest slightly heaving with his fuming.

She placed her hand on his chest gently, looking worried. "I'm sorry," she repeated, searching his eyes.

He watched her, his breathing evening out as his anger faded at her touch. He was suddenly very exhausted, exhausted of his anger. He wanted to press her against him and bury his face in her hair and leave his emotions behind. He was tired of them. "I'm adding wards, and you won't be able to leave once they are up," he told her, his voice level now.

"Okay.. Is that all you're going to do?" She asked him, watching him with a guarded expression.

"I'm not going to beat you, Astoria," he told her, his voice disgusted even though he knew he had no place to act as if it was unwarranted for her to suspect him to do so. He had proven himself certainly capable.

"You won't kick me out?"

"Of the Manor?" Did he not just inform her that he was adding wards that would make her unable to leave?

"Your bedroom," she said, her eyebrows gathered together in concern.

Draco was quiet, surprised that this was what she had been worried about over him physically harming her. "No. It's safer in here. You're safer with me."

Astoria visibly relaxed and her hand slid from his chest to drop to her side, his chest suddenly feeling cold where her hand had been.

Why had she stopped touching him?

"I'm sorry for what my mother said about yours," she said quietly, looking down. "She says things that are uncalled for quite a lot."

"I believe she told you to stop feeling apologetic," he replied, remembering her mother's anger.

"I don't want to be like her," Astoria murmured, shaking her head slightly.

"She seems like a smart woman."

"She seems like she lost hope long ago, and that's if she ever had it. I don't want to be like that. I want to have happiness. I want to have love.. I know she loves us, but it's almost in a mournful way. I don't want to be bitter all the time. I want to be sorry when I do something wrong. I want to feel guilt. I want to feel everything.. I don't want to be empty."

Draco thought of the things Freya had said to his mother in their youth about having hope. His mother had had hope, and she had suffered just as Freya had predicted. He didn't want Astoria to suffer, but he wasn't sure if he could control that. He wasn't sure if he could give her what she wanted. "How did your father know," he asked, changing the subject.

"What?"

"How did he know to have your mother take the object from you."

"He just knows."

Draco shook his head, unnerved by this family that he was suddenly attached to in result of his marriage. "Mother was right to yell at Daphne for using that poor girl's fate in her whining. Adrian is not a terrible man. There are some wizards who are.. Truly horrific men. We are lucky."

"We?" Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes we. You are far from terrible," she told him, nodding, seemingly talking more to herself than him.
"There's still time for me to think of disgusting and torturous punishments for you," he said, feeling slightly amused.

Astoria grimaced. "Please. Don't make me think of it, and don't joke! That is so.. Dark."

"I've been called a dark wizard."

"You're Neville Longbottom next to a man like that," she said softly.

He snorted, pulling away from her. She was standing there looking grateful for him, grateful that he didn't do such awful things to her until she felt she had to end her life like that girl her mother had spoke of.

It was fucked.

He undressed himself, trying to control his thoughts and emotions that were all coming at him at once, the thoughts and emotions that exhausted him. He got into the bed, leaning back in it as she joined him shortly after once she had changed into a nightdress, getting on the bed gingerly as if moving it too much would set him off. "Are you still angry with me?"

"Yes."

He heard her sigh and he looked down at her, his face emotionless. "I want you to learn that you are my wife, not your father's daughter. It's why you have my name now. Not his."

"I know.."

"You obviously don't," he replied, shaking his head. "If you did you would have listened to me instead of thinking of what he wanted. You are meant to think of what I want."

"I won't do it again."

"That's because I'm making it impossible for you to do it again."

Astoria didn't reply for a while and he moved to lay on his side, facing away from her.

"Draco?"

"What."

"I hope that one day I will be important enough for you to rescue me if I was in danger," she said, her voice so soft that he could barely hear her. He closed his eyes at the sound of it, not replying. He knew that day was already there, and that he had only said those things to hurt her in his anger.

He didn't tell her that.