Hey hey hey! So, regarding the observation about how much the characters cuss: yes, they cuss quite a bit. Astoria doesn't (I believe the extent of her cursing was when she said "bullshit" to her sister in her fourth year, and that was an intentional out of character cursing), Freya does because she is rather unconventional (though only in front of people who don't really matter in the grand scheme of things), Daphne does occasionally because she was trying to make herself into this rebel she obviously wasn't, Adrian curses the worst out of all of them. When it comes to the men, well, they are mostly young men and around violence and death, and they are usually in a more casual setting where they aren't keeping up appearances or they are at school. I imagine these characters to want to take off their masks a bit outside of when they have to be stiff and uppity, especially since they are the ones at the very top already. As for the characters I'm focusing on in this story I don't really picture them as "Oh Charles do tell me how cricket went today ta ha ha absolutely splendid" with no contractions to be found (not saying that's what you're implying, but just thought I'd throw that out there haha). There's definitely more pressure on the women to not use such words, and their society does reflect mannerisms from rich societies from our world, but it's also mixed with darker elements and they are dealing with the war and murders etc. etc. and these men are vulgar in some ways. This is a long explanation for a really simple question lol. It also didn't make much sense.. But hopefully you got what I'm trying to get across! Also, thank you for correcting me on the "past" vs"passed" thing, that's definitely something that always gets me staring at it until neither word makes sense and I move on hahaha. How are all of you? It's been raining the last few days (I adore the rain. I spent my childhood in the Seattle area), and it reminds me of when I was little and I would go pick up all the worms after it rained and return them to the grass so they wouldn't dry up and die. Did any of you do anything like that? As always, your support carries this story, and thank you so much for it! Tell me what you think of this chapter as well!

I don't own anything from Harry Potter.

Draco's face was slick with sweat when he was awoken from his sleep, the pregnant muggle-born's screams transitioning to Astoria's as his mind adjusted to reality.

How he just needed some bloody sleep.

Draco grit his teeth, rubbing a hand over his sweaty face before shifting off of his bed, snapping to the house-elf that he would tend to his wife instead of it, sneering at the way the elf's eyes lit up in hope.

He paused at the door to her bedroom, his hand resting on the handle as he closed his eyes, preparing himself as the sounds of her nightmare were now much closer to his ears. He could already feel the cold wall he had put up just for her begin to form cracks. He opened the door, stepping into his wife's bedroom to find her in her bed, the pitiful sight she was.

He felt his chest tighten as he took in the small, frightened girl on the bed, curling desperately into the sheets that were tangled around her, clinging to the sweat on her body.

"Astoria," he said loudly through clenched teeth, his gaze moving to her eyes as he waited for them to open.

The deep rings under her eyes surpassed his own, and he wondered how that were even possible given how little rest he managed to get for himself. The rings looked alarmingly wrong on her normally well rested and unflawed, porcelain face, and her cheeks were void of their regular natural color as well as slightly hollowed in result of her lack of eating. Her hair that was usually so well kept was a mess around the frame of her face as it seemingly fell out of a very half-hearted braid she had put into her hair who knows how long ago.

Still, she was still breathtakingly beautiful to him, as well as far too innocent for his sanity to handle.

A child.

When Astoria didn't wake the second time he called her name, he moved forward in frustration to put a hand on her arm, shaking her awake as he said her name again.

Her eyes snapped open as she woke wildly, grabbing his arm in alarm as she searched the room blindly as her eyes adjusted. He pulled his arm away roughly but she caught his fingers with her small hand, her other hand joining in assistance to hold him in place. He looked from her hands to her big eyes, now staring back at his.

"Draco," she said pleadingly, her voice slightly raspy. He wasn't sure if that was a result of her crying, screaming, or from simply lack of use.

He did know that it added cracks to his wall.

He pulled his hand away from her weak hold, brushing his hand on the fabric of the pants he slept in. "You woke me. You keep waking me," he told her shortly.

Her hands dropped to the bed as her body leaned forward as she caught her weight on them, looking down. "I didn't mean to. Please let me talk to you," she whimpered.

"I don't wish to speak to you. I only want your silence."

Astoria's shoulders fell even lower than they already were and she reached up a hand to wipe her eyes shakily. "I took the potion.. I guess it didn't work.. I-I can't remember.."

Draco shook his head and turned. "I suppose I will have to put silencing charms on your room then," he said coldly, the words feeling wrong as they left his mouth.

Which is why he had to turn from her to speak them.

"Please don't leave me." Her voice was barely a whisper, the small amounts of her voice in her quiet pleading broken.

Draco closed his eyes, focusing his wall, forcing it to stand strong. "I will allow your sister back soon enough if it will help you to look less of a hideous mess and allow me rest."

"No.. I-I want you. I don't want you to leave."

Fuck this.

Draco left the bedroom, slamming the door on his way out, wincing when he heard her sobs.

It was silent for the next couple of nights, surprisingly enough, but still sleep would not come to him for more than an hour at a time, his own nightmares not allowing it.

He was staring at his puzzle box in the dark hours of the morning when he heard her again and he closed his eyes as he struggled with himself.

He just wanted some sleep.

When he entered her bedroom this time he picked her up, sighing inwardly at how she felt even lighter than before, and carried her back to his own. Her arms wrapping around his neck as he walked and she calmed in his arms, clinging to him desperately in her less than half woken state. He tried to harden himself as he winced at her vulnerability. Yes, his wall was definitely in danger of the beginnings of crumbling. He dropped her down on his bed, moving to his own side where she immediately curled up to his arm and he pulled it away, pushing a pillow at her.

"Sleep. Don't touch me," he muttered coolly to her as her tired eyes fluttered only momentarily before her face was buried in the pillow to rest.

What was he doing, allowing her back into his bed? Bringing her back to his bed?

How he was weak, much too weak for his own good.

Draco laid down beside her, putting more than enough distance between them as he rested his head, becoming conscious of her slightly uneven breaths as she was fresh from crying. Closing his eyes, the sleep he had been missing somehow came to him, as in some way the girl always gifted that to him.

It was dark when Astoria opened her eyes, and she was not in her room.

She was not in her room.

She sat up quickly, grimacing immediately at the dizziness and head pain that came over her in result of her sitting up faster than she had in quite some time. She looked around as her eyes adjusted, breathing deeply to inhale the familiar scents of the bed she was in. A small amount of joy filled her as she comprehended her surroundings, as well as surprise.

He had shown her mercy.

She was in silence again, alone, but now she had some hope to cling to at his show of compassion. He was much less horrible than he tried to make himself to be, much less horrible than the men she had heard of could be.

The smell of food touched her nose and she looked next to her at the tray of soup and bread, frowning at the note there with scrawled but still elegant handwriting.

"Eat."

She sighed and took the tray from the bedside table, setting it in her lap. Ah.. Eating in bed. What would her mother say?

The food was still warm when she began to eat it, and she wondered when it had been put there. She was relieved not to have the house-elf down her throat, it had been starting to really kill her always nagging at her when she just wanted it to go away. Especially when she suddenly had the urge to begin talking with it. She would truly consider herself insane if she had made friends with the servant.

She had finished the food much quicker than she had expected herself to, realizing exactly how hungry she was. It was odd how quickly she seemed to regain her senses, and she stared down at her hair, slightly horrified at how her appearance must look. She looked to his bathroom door, not sure exactly what she was allowed to do now that he had allowed her to sleep in his bed, surely just to shut her up for the night. Why hadn't he just silenced her room as he suggested he would?

It didn't matter, what mattered was that she was finally seeing a bit of progress, a bit of light in the darkness.

She decided if he was telling her to eat then he'd allow her to use his shower. She didn't want to go use her own in fear of being locked out again, and to her relief he had not returned by the time she had finished and she called for the house-elf to bring her her things.

Apparently she had slept through the day as well, and the darkness in the room was a result of the fact that it was already the next night.

He had allowed her to stay that long..

She sat back on the bed, not knowing what else to do as she waited for his return. She didn't feel like she could very well make herself at home as if things were back to normal, she knew things were far from being back to normal. Things would never be back to the way they were again. That was fine, as long as things were more than what they had been when she was isolated.

Her mind wandered to Theodore, wondering what he would make of this situation. Her heart twinged and she shook the thoughts of him off. He was in her past, and she had to leave him there. Especially in this time when she was finally back in her husband's bedroom.

At least she knew she was more than capable of leaving her loved ones in the past.

She was drifting again when Draco entered the room and she sat up to attention quickly, watching him carefully and waiting for him to speak before she did.

He took a bit to look at her, removing his cloak and taking his time before he turned to her, his grey eyes exceptionally cool on hers before they traveled down her body slowly to assess her state.

"You look less like a corpse, but still not as you should."

Astoria nodded her agreement, smoothing her hair down self-consciously. "I know. I am sorry I am not nearly as presentable as I'm meant to be. I don't know why I'm so weak.." She said quietly, her voice off from what she was used to. She looked down as she felt embarrassed now at how she allowed herself to become so beside herself.

"Mmm. I can come up with a few other choice words to describe you as well as weak."

She winced, forcing herself to look at him before she spoke, though she hated how exposed she felt to his resentful expression. "Draco, I swear to you that I never, ever would have done what I did under normal circumstances. I swear to you with everything I can possibly offer that I will never even think of doing anything like that again. I'm so sorry. I know I wronged you horribly, and I really wish I could take it back.. But I can't," her voice broke as she struggled to get her apology out, having gone over it more than a dozen times already. "I can't take it back, but I'm still committed to being your wife, and I would do anything to prove that to you. I just don't want us to live our lives so apart.. I need you."

"You need me," he repeated, his voice laced with venom along with something else she couldn't place.

Astoria nodded, watching him nervously.

Draco chuckled softly, walking towards her and she stilled, her breath catching as fear swam up her throat. "Interesting. You claim to need me, your husband, and yet you love another man," he said darkly, sneering the word love.

"I didn't know I did.. I wish I didn't. I don't want to, and I will stop. I want to love you. I care about you. Please, Draco. I don't know what to do about this.. I'm lost in it all," she told him weakly, feeling tears fill her eyes as she watched him approach her.

He grabbed her face painfully hard, his fingers digging into her jaw as he stared into her eyes and they practically rattled as they searched hers intently before he pushed her slowly back by the grip on her face, forcing her head all the way down, flattening her on the bed beneath him. Astoria's heart sank when she felt him in her head, pulling forward the memory of when she went to Theodore, when she had wronged him.

He began to chuckle again when he was finished, the sound low and quiet in the back of his throat and she watched his eyes flash madly, sending a paralyzing chill to spread through her in fear. His hand trailed from her jaw to her throat, his careful fingers wrapping around it slowly before pressure was applied, challenging her air passage. She didn't move, didn't fight him as she looked up at him in apprehension.

"Are you his as he says you are, Astoria? Have you always been his? Mmm?"

She tried to shake her head under his grip, but she could barely move.

"No? Who, darling? Who do you belong to?" He asked, his voice silken and light, covering his fury.

"You," she managed to get out, struggling to gather air for her lungs.

"Mmm. Me. You belong to me. My property," he practically cooed before his eyes became even darker.

She moved her head the slight amount it was able to nod in response, her heels digging nervously into the bed.

"Every time I touch you now you'll only ever be able to think of him, according to Nott," he mused, a strange touch of smile touching his lips. "Is that what he thinks?"

She didn't know how to respond to that, so she only stared at him.

"Is that what you think, love?" He asked, chuckling again.

She moved her head side to side slowly and the hold on her throat loosened, allowing her to breathe much easier.

"You want me, you said?"

She nodded and he narrowed his eyes slightly and he shook his head. "Use your words."

"Yes, I want you, Draco," she breathed, her eyes large as she watched him, waiting for his next move.

His hand moved from her neck to the nightgown she wore, ripping the fabric down the middle to tear it off her. He took her wrists and pinned them up above her head, trailing his wand down the length of her arm and down her ribcage that was now bare to him.

She shivered at her sudden nakedness and tried not to flinch as the tip of his wand warmed to an uncomfortable temperature as it skimmed down her body as he tore her undergarments from her as well, sliding his wand across her her hipbone and pressing it there lightly, causing her to bite her lip at the heat before he dragged it to her naval.

She kept her arms above her head, fully aware of his silent order when he had pinned them in place, something telling her it would be become much harder to keep them there as the moments went on. Her teeth dug into her lip painfully as he began to swirl his wand against her skin, feeling as if he was almost cutting into her. She looked down to see that he was etching words into her skin magically, but she was not bleeding as her skin was marked. He leaned down to run his lips against the burning inscription and the pain was instantly soothed, pulsing into something warm and pleasurable and she watched the marks fade into nothing, her skin unflawed once more. His wand moved up between her breasts, repeating the process there and she struggled to keep quiet at the pain as well as the pleasure that came second when he corrected it. As he moved across her body, carving magical letters into her in different spots all across her she finally was able to focus on one long enough to make out the words before they were gone.

Property of Draco Malfoy.

She whimpered as he moved to the inside of her thigh. This time he was slower and the words felt much deeper and hotter, more torturous. Her leg jerked but he caught it, holding it in place firmly. He didn't remove the pain or the etching after he was finished, and her thigh burned terribly. She clasped her thighs together only to flinch and pull them apart when she found that that only made it worse. Draco flipped her onto her stomach to begin her back in which he created the largest and deepest loops of letters, working agonizingly slowly as he intentionally wanted her to feel every curve of his hand down to her toes. She muffled her cry with the pillow under her face, squirming down into the bed to try and distance herself from his wand. She heard him murmuring now, but didn't really care about his utterings as she did the tormenting of her flesh. She felt a hand on the burning of her inner thigh and hummed in response as the pain there left her, becoming replaced with something sweet, sensual. Instinctively she pressed her thigh against his hand. She shuddered a sigh when his mouth traced the offending words in her back, his tongue gracing the pain and a small moan of both relief and need left her lips. He turned her over again, glancing up at her arms that were still above her head then down to her expression before tilting his head slightly.

"Now allow another man with ill intentions to touch you, Astoria. I have to dare you."

He hovered his wand over her and every area he had branded her seared her all at once. She cried out loudly as her skin lit up in searing agony before grinding her teeth together, squeezing her eyes shut and turning onto her side to curl in on her self slightly, her arms still above her. With one finger he pressed against the hip that was raised as she was turned to one side, urging her back down flat and she reluctantly complied, her body squirming in extreme discomfort. She arched her back off of the bed to escape the sheets that burned her more, and her thighs parted as she struggled to keep her skin from touching anything. She opened her mouth to pant slightly before biting her lip again, waiting for him to soothe her, needing it.

"That's a good girl," he purred darkly. "You've never looked more in place."

She looked at him pleadingly before she arched her back higher, desperate for it to stop. She watched him slowly undress himself, infuriatingly taking his time and she wanted to scream at him. How he wanted her to suffer. She was not sure what sort of magic this was, but she knew there were plenty of dark books in his library he could have gotten many ideas from.

She had closed her eyes when she felt his body slide against hers and she moaned loudly in great relief as his skin cooled hers instantly, his hand sliding underneath her to calm her back before it came up find her hair that she had uncharacteristically left down. Her arms came around his shoulders needily and he pulled back to force them back above her head.

"No. You have not earned the right to touch me."

A small sound of protest left her throat and he fisted her hair again, his face coming close to hers and his breath fanned her face.

"Tell me who you belong to," he commanded her, gathering her hair tightly in his hand enough for her to wince.

"You, Draco."

"Mmm." His hips pushed down into hers and he slid inside her easily as he dragged his teeth down her neck, biting and sucking at her flesh there, seemingly marking her has much as he could in this night. She was feeling quite dizzied by now. "Tell me who you want."

"You, Draco." Her whimpered words were cut off by a choking sound when he pulled his hips back to slam into her.

She shuddered, sucking in breath after the impact before digging her fingers into the bedding above her, her chest and stomach rising and falling dramatically beneath him. He kissed her now, hard and punishing, his teeth nipping her lower lip sharply enough that she tasted blood as she moved her mouth back against his, becoming a submissive, melted mess of nothing under is dominant mouth and body.

His.

His hips moved slowly to grind into hers again from where he was deeply connected to her and his mouth stole her sounds of pleasure. His lips pulled from hers, her lip left stinging from his small assault, and his mouth pressed closed to her ear.
"Tell me who you're thinking about," he breathed against her ear, his tone chillingly sweet as he continued to roll his hips at an angle just right, too right.

How could she possibly be thinking of anything else?

"Y-You, D-" She was cut off before she could finish as he began to drive into her relentlessly, taking her breath away at his roughness as he pounded into her small and weak frame.

When she finally was able to breathe out again her breath came with a shaky sobbing sound as he didn't let up, her body overwhelmed with such intense sensations that she had to focus strength on not pushing him away as it was nearly too much for her. She felt his name leave her mouth again in a cry and she brought her hands down to hold onto him, unable to keep them in place any longer and he didn't stop his near attack on her body as she half expected him to and she dug her fingers into his skin, eliciting a hiss from him. Her head swam and her sounds became too incoherent to her ears to even describe them and she could only cling to him as he truly finished her, only slowing when he was decidedly finished himself.

Her head was rolling to one side when she felt her magic pull around her and she looked up to Draco whose unfocused eyes were on her, his mind seemingly focused elsewhere. She closed her eyes and relaxed her magic to allow his to connect with hers, feeling an odd lifting feeling as their magic pulsated between each other. She was too weak to do much to participate, not that she needed to, and she allowed him to fuss with their bonds as he pleased, enjoying the new sensations of it as her other sensations were still fading and made for an incredibly sated feeling.

They felt different when he was finished, their dynamics, dully different, and Astoria was curious to what he had managed. Marriage bonds were said to be more to be experienced rather than explained. She definitely wasn't able to coherently experience them now.

She didn't move when he got off of her, laying beside her in their silence, her body and mind already lulling off. She was surprised he had allowed her as much pleasure as he had and wondered if he had planned on that or if it had been an accident.

"I don't forgive you, Astoria, but I wish to sleep."

Freya jumped when she heard the steps in the safe home they were residing in and relaxed slightly when she felt it her husband, not turning from her side on the bed as she heard him undress on the other side of it. She turned finally when she felt the bed mood as he joined her, sliding her arm around his waist.

"You've been gone," she commented, looking up at his face that showed no signs of where he'd been.

"Indeed."

She moved to rest her head on his chest, always having a battle of mixed feelings towards his presence.

"You've missed me it seems," he observed, his hand coming to rest on her braided head, stroking it slightly.

"Nobody likes to be alone, Aldrich," she sighed, tightening her hold around his waist.

"You left. Where? I was not able to pay much attention at the time."

"Malfoy Manor. I met with Rhys to finish with the documents for Daphne, and then again to check on Daphne. She wasn't there as I expected. I suppose she's doing better than I anticipated with the Pucey boy," she explained, hoping he wouldn't prod further.

"We mustn't underestimate the girl too much. She is still our child," he replied thoughtfully. "Though it does not please me to think of her settling in with the Pucey family of all families."

"I'm worried about both of them staying in their homes that way. Astoria especially," Freya said, hoping to get the topic far away from where she had gone. "I cannot believe Draco is staying there, holding his ground. Narcissa and Lucius are both hiding. He should as well."

"Based on the pattern of attacks it's Daphne we should be more concerned about, no?"

"Perhaps," Freya said slowly. "I just hope their security is strong."

"They will be fine. You told me the Aurors are constantly floating about, and Draco is not as much of an idiot as he once was as well as being," Aldrich paused, his eyebrow twitching slightly as a knowing look crossed his features. "considerably more curious. Adrian, as unbearable as I find that family, I know is a rather talented wizard himself from what I have heard. Our daughters are safe. I wouldn't allow otherwise."

"I know you wouldn't," she replied, wrapping her leg around his waist to straddle him. "I may go mad with boredom the next time you decide to leave me alone for such a long time with no where to go."

Amusement touched Aldrich's eyes and he rested his hands on her hips. "You and I both know you went mad long ago, my pet."

Freya's chest tightened and she tilted her head, "Mad is a woman such as Bellatrix Lestrange. I am nothing like the sort."

"That is debatable."

Freya felt her eyes narrow slightly at her husband. "Don't insult me."

"I would argue that one loses sanity once they attempt death. I feel I have every right to insult you, or say anything I please really, seeing as I'm the reason you're alive."

"I didn't ask you to be the reason, and I didn't ask to be alive," she replied softly, his face blurring in her vision as it became unfocused when the memories came back to her as if they were only days ago.

"Mmm. Yet my statement still stands. As well as the other. Yes, you truly did want to die. Which means your sanity already had."