I'm sorry I'm later than I usually am with this chapter! It's been a busy weekend, and I had a midterm (which I'm very pissed about and am seeking some sort of revenge on my teacher). I also was dragged to the new Ring movie. Don't see it. It was so, so terrible! Anyway, I hope I'm forgiven, and I hope you guys are enjoying this story. I'm glad you seemed to like Theo's point of view, maybe I'll do that again sometime? What do you think? I have a lot of story expansions for different characters, but I'm not sure how I want to tell them or how long I want to spend on them since I don't want to annoy you with too much aside from Draco/Astoria, but honestly the story is a lot more than just them, so tell me what you think! Happy reading!
I don't own anything from Harry Potter.
Astoria moved to take the shower once Draco left the bathroom. As she moved towards the bathroom his eyes scanned her body, looking slightly amused. "You could have joined me and saved water as well as time," he told her, going into his dresser lazily.
"Is that what you and Pansy did to save time in the mornings? Or any of the other several random women that I can't even begin to recall that you had relations with?" Astoria asked, tilting her chin up slightly as she stopped in front of the bathroom door before going in to finish speaking with him, the steam from his shower leaking over her and covering her with the scents of his bathing products that she had grown familiar with from the smells lingering on his skin and hair as well as his pillows she slept on at night.
"Careful, love. You sound a bit jealous," he drawled, moving his eyes to meet hers.
"Jealous? Of Pansy Parkinson?" She asked, scoffing and wrinkling her nose. "Please, don't insult me."
Pansy wasn't an ugly girl by any means, but she was horrible for many other reasons. In no way did she compare to Astoria. No, Astoria had poised herself too well and worked too hard to even be in the same realm as horrendously mannered and shameless Pansy Parkinson. She wouldn't tolerate it.
"No," he told her, his voice simple.
"No?"
"No, that isn't what we did. I would rather Parkinson or any other female not ruin one of the only things that clear my head," he told her. "They would be far too distracting. All over me and such, suffocating me. There's a time and a place for that. My personal time is not one of them."
Yes, he always did spend a very long time in the shower, and his water always seemed uncomfortably hot from what she had observed. Astoria pressed her tongue to her canine tooth and tilted her head, a smug expression crossing her features. Draco raised a slow eyebrow at her, blinking slowly. "Yes?"
"I suppose you'd be fine with me ruining it then," she told him, slightly surprised at herself displaying her cockiness in a scenario that she was certainly not confident in, so she wasn't quite sure where that came from.
Draco watched her carefully, assessing her form before moving towards her and tugging her by her arm against his body that was covered only by a towel around his waist. "You're my wife. It is different," he told her, trailing a hand down her neck slowly. "Don't compare yourself to petty whores."
"How is that?" She asked him, her cockiness fading as the intensity of his nearness coated her senses, making her feel incredibly small again.
"You don't invade my space. You don't push me or throw yourself at me. You allow me to take my time, as you take your time," her murmured.
Ah, but he invaded her space.
"I don't have to throw myself at you. You're already my husband," she said dismissively. "There is no need to seduce you."
Draco smirked, catching a piece of her hair in his fingers. "That I am. You got what you were after already didn't you?"
"I thought so."
"You thought so," he repeated, his tone thoughtful. "Hmm. And you believe you could seduce me if you needed to?"
Astoria didn't respond to his question as he began to touch her, holding still for him as they fell into quietness, as she usually did, searching for a sound in the silence to latch onto. She studied the veins that spread over his upper body, pronounced against his pale skin, much similar to hers. His chest was hairless and smooth aside from the light blonde trail down the lower part of his stomach that disappeared past his towel, which she liked. She didn't think being very hairy would suit him much at all. He didn't have an abundance of muscle, but he had shaped up quite a bit since Hogwarts. He was toned, his body was firm and strong which only made him appear all the more marble like.
"Always so still," he commented, running a finger across her cheekbone and she shivered slightly in response.
"Does it bother you?" She asked, her voice slightly breathless as she had been holding her breath, something she especially did when it was very quiet.
"No," he replied, not adding anything else to his answer.
Astoria was patient as he touched her more, his touch incredibly light and careful, as if he was memorizing the exact feel of her skin under his fingertips. Counting every freckle perhaps with how slow he was. His fingers brushed over her lips lightly and she kissed them gently, her eyes finding his. He paused, watching her with his level gaze before pushing his fingers against her mouth until her lips parted for them as they slid into her mouth. She felt herself flush slightly but kept her eyes on his, knowing that was what he preferred and she closed her mouth over his cool fingers. His eyes darkened as she pressed her tongue up against them, and when she sucked them gently she watched his jaw tighten.
She didn't separate his eyes from his as he moved his other hand behind her neck to hold her in place as he pushed his slender fingers further into her mouth and down her throat until the muscles in her throat contracted slightly around them in protest. Astoria controlled the gagging sound so it was only faint and she felt her eyes water slightly as she watched him. He didn't move to remove them as his eyes filled with something ravenous. When he finally moved his fingers from her mouth she pressed her tongue against them as they exited, studying the feel of his skin on her tongue.
He kissed her hard, almost painfully hard, causing her to gasp in response. His hand on the back of her neck pushed her closer to him and she struggled to regain herself enough to respond to his demanding kiss. She tried to kiss back harder, to at least attempt to match his aggression in the kiss, but she was weak and inexperienced as his mouth completely dominated hers. She was powerless against him, but she supposed she didn't mind.
She hesitated before sliding her hand up his chest halfway, feeling his smooth skin and defined form that she had previously been staring at. He shifted forward, pressing his body against her touch and broke the kiss, looking down at her with amusement in his eyes. She scowled at his expression and dropped her hand, only to have him catch it and hold it to his lips, kissing her palm. Oddly enough, this is what made her sway slightly on her feet.
She was swooning over him.
How very childish of her, and she hadn't even covered it up well. He chuckled at her reaction and stepped away, motioning to the bathroom, signaling her to get on with it before resuming dressing himself. She fought the urge to huff like a little girl at his smug face before going into the bathroom to wash herself. As the water covered her she closed her eyes, desire for him still stirring in her stomach and she shifted her thighs together, biting the inside of her cheek. She was unfamiliar with these feelings of longing and the heat between her legs calling to her to go back to him, to act bold.
She was turned on by him.
When she returned to the bedroom, Draco had gone. It was typical of him to not wait around for her, she had gotten used to it. It was better he was gone, she needed to collect herself before meeting with people not be put into a reddened, needy mess by him. She carefully got ready, applying all of the oils and creams she enjoyed and took time on herself. She had much more opportunity to get ready properly this time around to prepare for the Aurors than she had previously, which she appreciated greatly. She needed the time to pull herself together and feel her best if she was going to put on a good show.
When she finally got downstairs, the Aurors were there, early. She stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the irritating fact and spread a false smile across her face as she took in who was in attendance. Granger was there again, Ronald Weasley, and the dark skinned man was there again. The two older men that had spoken of recollections of her mother previously were not there, thankfully. She had not been fond of them. Draco was not in the room, she found, and she assumed the house-elf allowed them in.
"Mrs. Malfoy, it's good to see you again," Granger said in attempt to match Astoria's decencies, offering her half of a tight smile.
"Hermione, I am very sorry no one was here to greet you," Astoria said frowning before moving to kiss Granger's cheeks and Granger awkwardly tried to accept them, looking surprised that Astoria was willing to touch her. "Ronald Weasley, of course," she greeted him warmly, nodding to him. He looked very uncomfortable and displeased to be there, glancing around the Manor suspiciously as his lip slightly curled.
Draco would be ever so pleased to see him.
"Er, right. You're Malfoy's wife," he said, wrinkling his face slightly in a sort of grimace. A charming man, indeed.
"Astoria," she said and nodded to him enthusiastically before turning to the deeply skinned man, who was quite attractive and seemingly better mannered than the rest, his posture straight and reserved. "I apologize, I didn't catch your name the last time you were here," she told him, frowning apologetically.
"Aiken Dine," he told her, nodding to her. Yes, she recognized the name. A decent family with only a few hiccups in the line.
"I brought Ron," Hermione stated, motioning to him.
"I can see that, Hermione," Astoria said, blinking.
"Well, I was thinking of what you said and," Granger paused, looking at Weasley with disapproval. "And you were right. So I brought him along to hopefully.. Eliminate some stereotypes."
Astoria fought a smirk at her words. She wondered what excellent and degrading line Weasley must have said to naive Granger who must have expected better from her precious hero. She was sure this "eliminate stereotypes" proposal was meant for how she viewed them as well. She was trying, trying to work with Astoria in order to build some sort of bridge to get her on their side, to make her one of them.
Very poor and obvious manipulation on her part.
"Wonderful," Astoria replied smoothly, smiling before becoming distracted by the next man who entered the sitting room. "Harry Potter. What an honor," she said, bowing her head slightly in respect, forcing back a grimace. A bit too much.
Potter took her in, his neutral expression faltering at her greeting. "Mrs. Malfoy, I take it?" He asked, nodding as he moved to join the other Aurors.
Well, there they were, weren't they? The whole Golden Trio there, in Draco's home, her home. "Astoria," she told him before clasping her hands together. "Well! Let me gather you all something to drink. Perhaps a snack?"
"No offense, but I'd rather not be poisoned," Weasley grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ugh, how could one possibly understand him speaking in barely formed words that way? Infuriating.
Hermione gave him an angry look to her friend, obviously alienating Astoria was not a part of her manipulation tactic. Potter side-eyed him. "Sure, that would be great, Astoria. Thanks. Where's Draco?" He asked her, glancing around.
"Ah, he was just with me in his bedroom. He might be in his study, actually. Would you like me to go and look?" She asked, bracing herself to stand.
"No, no. That's fine. We'll wait."
"Story of my life, that is. Waiting for Draco," she said, laughing slightly as she told the house-elf to fetch some table snacks while she made them coffee. She stopped just as she was about to pour them at Draco's commanding voice.
"Don't. Don't you fucking dare pour Potter and his sidekicks refreshments," he snapped coolly. "Absolutely not."
Astoria pressed her lips together, considering her options, picking her battles. She gave the three apologetic looks before giving only the fourth Auror a drink, who took it with amusement.
"No matter, Draco. Mr. Weasley was concerned I'd poison him," she said, sitting on the couch across from the Aurors as Draco made his way over to them, looking disgusted at the three who were on his furniture. .
"Yes, well, of course Weasley can't make it five minutes before insulting my wife," he slightly spat, sitting beside her.
"I wasn't insulting her, you git. Am I honestly supposed to trust your little.. Female version of you to make me something to drink?" Weasley retorted, looking at Draco with impatience.
Astoria scowled at that. Female version of Draco? They were nothing alike at all. "Excuse me, Mr. Weasley, but when you say "female version of you" what exactly about Draco do you mean? Early years at Hogwarts Draco? Post Hogwarts Draco? His appearance? I'm quite lost. Our personalities differ greatly, and our looks do as well, just because we are blonde does not mean we are copies of each other," she said, her tone slightly offended. Draco had especially been quite the fool at Hogwarts, and she resented the thought that anyone could assume her acting similarly to that.
Draco watched her, raising an eyebrow at her response. "You don't desire being compared to me, my lovely wife?"
Potter sighed, shaking his head. "Ignore, Ron. We're here for something important are we not? Yes, we are. Right, well, we should get on with it then," he said, flipping through his documents. "We should try to ignore our differences to get through this smoothly."
"Of course, Harry," Astoria said, nodding. Draco looked at her sharply, obviously not pleased with the use of Potter's first name on her tongue or her slightly sugary tone.
"Would you like me to leave you two to a room? You and Weasley as well? I won't tolerate it, Astoria, and if you're trying to infuriate me then I can assure you it is working," he said, though his voice was even.
Astoria frowned, shaking her head. "Not at all, Draco." Why on Earth would she want to anger him? Was he sincerely asking her such a thing?
"There is no reason to speak to her that way for being polite, Malfoy," Granger said sharply, a look of disgust on her face towards her husband. "I'm not fond of sitting here and watching you talk down to your wife."
"Oh, excuse me. I thought this was my wife who is meant to listen to me, but perhaps I'm mistaken and she's yours."
"She's your wife, she's not meant to be obedient to your every will."
"Ah. Perhaps in your world, Granger. Things work differently in many ways in our world, and you are a guest. You might consider acting as such as well as minding your own business."
"Your world is just a mess of excuses to be horrible and practically enslave women!" Granger explained, puffing up.
"Enslave," Draco scoffed. "Of course you'd only see the effects on women." Draco looked at her with disinterest as her face reddened in anger before turning his face away dismissively..
"Mr. Potter," Astoria said, ignoring the argument going on about her. "What questions did you have for us?"
He shook his head, gathering his papers together. "I don't know at this point. All the questions were ran through last time. Did you do it?" He asked her lamely.
"If you are referring to the recent killings, no, I didn't," she said, turning to Draco. "Did you?"
"I have better things to do."
She turned back to Potter and smiled. "There you are."
"We were planning on just.. Talking and observing you for a while. There are only so many questions you can ask, really," Granger said, looking at Harry and then back at them.
"Observe us," Draco repeated, sneering it. "Like we are fucking animals."
"Aren't you?" Weasley retorted, narrowing his eyes.
Astoria placed a hand on her chest, feigning offense. "I do hope I don't look like an animal. I fear my mother would be quite hard on me if that were the case, and she can be quite harsh when it comes to appearances.."
"Far from it, Mrs. Malfoy," Potter offered, smiling to her.
Draco laughed coldly in response, moving his arm around her waist and yanking her to his side so they were touching on the couch. "How about your eyes stay on what's yours and my eyes, no doubt, will stay on what's mine, Potter."
Astoria wanted to sigh out loud but she held it in. The compliment was strictly polite, but she was sure Potter could tell her she simply looked female and Draco would find an excuse to be angry and possessive about it.
"Well, Malfoy. Astoria was just telling me it was an honor to see me so I thought I should repay the compliment," Potter said, his face innocent and indifferent.
"Harry," Hermione said frowning, looking at Astoria worriedly. "You shouldn't say that right-"
"Careful, Potter. You might earn my poor wife a flogging," he said coldly, mocking Granger's concerns.
"Oi!" Astoria looked over to see Adrian Pucey stalking into the room, an accusing look on his face. "What the fuck? Thought we were friends? Thought I made it clear that's all I wanted to be and not siblings?"
"The hell? Can't you see we are in the middle of something?" Weasley said, looking at Adrian up and down in annoyance. Astoria caught Granger looking as well, her face showing an appreciation for Adrian's appearance and Astoria wanted to laugh.
Adrian stared at him before making a show of looking around and moving in a circle slowly where he stood. "No. Don't see anything you're in the middle of, so sorry. Now, be a good boy and let me fight with my friend here."
"I never agreed to be friends, Adrian," she told him calmly, raising her nose slightly.
"Oh, ho ho. I see. I see what this is. I offer you kindness, and you betray me," Adrian said dramatically, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. Draco, is what is this?"
"Unbelievable," Draco drawled, looking bored.
"It's unbelievable is what it is!" Adrian exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You women. A man can't at least let his dick age a while before you come and try to suck it dry."
Astoria's face filled with disgust. "I can assure you, neither Daphne or I have the intention to do anything of the sort," she said, grimacing at the imagery.
"Honestly, Harry, what the fuck," Weasley said impatiently, making a show of adjusting in his seat uncomfortably.
"I thought you were meant to examine us," Draco said coolly, eyeing Weasley. "So shut up and do just that."
Weasley opened his mouth to protest but Granger gave him a look. It was always odd to Astoria to see the gender roles she was used to reversed.
"Well, you could at least explain to us what's going on," Granger said slowly, looking at Astoria and Adrian.
"Perfect. I'll tell my side of the story first, the victim's side, so this girl here. This girl used my friendship, my trust to bag her sister a husband. Me. Now my parents are trying to shove this girl on my dick, and I just haven't been into English girls lately. I've been quite pleased exploring the different birds the world has to offer at the moment, and she is going to put a stop to all of that by attaching some leech to me," Adrian said, dropping himself into an armchair.
Leech. Must they all describe them at way? Honestly, as if they had any choice in the matter, and they were raised to do exactly what their husbands said. Besides, men were allowed to sleep with as many other women as they'd like without being scorned. There was quite little negative impact for men when it came to having a wife. Astoria was never sure why they resisted, as they were rarely faithful or considerate anyway.
"So.. An arranged marriage. To Astoria's sister.. And it's her fault?" Hermione said slowly, attempting to look engaged in the conversation.
Astoria rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Adrian's explanation. "Oh, would you look at that, rolling her eyes. The disrespect. Honestly, I've never felt more insulted. I give you all of my loyalty, and you spit on it," Adrian said, his voice mournful during his dramatics.
"He told me that his mother had been asking about Daphne, so I simply passed along the information to my mother, which I made no promises not to do," Astoria commented simply.
"She passed on the information knowing it was a death sentence to my youth."
The fourth Auror chuckled and wrote a couple of things down while the other three looked unsure of how to respond.
"Is she ugly?" Weasley asked, looking between both Astoria and Adrian.
"My sister is not ugly," Astoria scoffed. "And Adrian should feel lucky to have her, to have a Greengrass."
"Greengrass," Adrian said slowly. "So the color of grass. Green. Green grass. A good and beautiful last name, really."
Draco snorted loudly. "I wouldn't be criticizing surnames in your position, Pucey."
Weasley actually snickered at that and quickly covered it up with a cough, not wanting to be caught laughing at something Draco said. Potter exchanged glances with Granger before looking down at his notes, seemingly unsure of what to be reporting on.
"Mine's beautiful Malfoy. It sounds very close to the greatest joy in life, so I'm not completely sure what you mean."
"I don't understand, really. You don't have to marry her," Potter said slowly to Adrian, looking confused.
"No, he does, Harry. That's what they do," Weasley said, nodding. "They marry who their parents tell them to, and if they refuse they risk being disowned.. Or whatever dark shit these people do."
"I'll be leaving again anyway, don't worry about me, Potter. Marriage will be avoided for now," Adrian said dismissively.
Astoria frowned and looked at Potter, tilting her head. No no, that wouldn't do. If Daphne were to marry Adrian then she would surely be able to see her much more. "Don't you think, seeing as the Ableworths were never involved with Voldemort, that it might be necessary to also keep an eye on other pure-blood families that you may not suspect?" She asked him, her eyes shifting to Adrian as she spoke.
Adrian's eyes narrowed and he sat up straight. "Are you fucking joking? I don't give a shit about Death Eater bullshit! I have more interesting things to do with my life, thanks," he spat, adjusting his jacket irritably. "Flaw my perfect skin with that hideous mark? I'll have to decline."
Potter watched him for a moment before looking to the fourth Auror and nodding. "Mr. Pucey, we will have to request you to not leave very far from your family's residency for the time being. If you violate this simple instruction we will have to track you and arrest you. Apologies, but these are critical times."
Adrian froze, staring at him before protesting loudly. Astoria's attention left them as they argued, noticing the heat of Draco's body next to her. She felt comfortable there, comfortable next to him. She only wished he wanted her close to him for reasons aside from Potter, reasons aside from jealousy.