Hi guys! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and glad you're fine with my little "meh" splurge. I'll get over it soon, and some bigger things will happen in this fic, don't worry! Thank you so much for the support (yes, thanking you again), and as always tell me what you think! I know some of you have a hard time with Ophelia, but keep in mind her age and her different upbringing than most of the girls in this story. Is it getting warm where you all are yet? Or was it already warm? It's getting warm here, and I absolutely hate it. Hate it! And the sun! Ugh! I'm starting to need sunglasses again! Yuck.
I don't own anything from Harry Potter.
"I'm glad you're actually meeting me," Ophelia murmured when she saw Edric arrive in front of her, the courage she had built up to confront him properly about everything dissolving a bit at the sight of him. No, she had to be firm. He was just a man for God's sake, a man that hardly seemed to care for her well-being.
"I told you that I would, did I not? I had to reward you for not making any sort of scene at the Ministry ball," he told her lightly, tilting his head just slightly as his eyes scanned the muggle park she had directed him to through the couple of letters they had exchanged.
"Reward me," she repeated flatly. "I'm not your animal for you to train, Greengrass."
"You're referring to me by my surname now?" He asked her, his eyebrow raising slightly. "I would think that we were beyond that after our long partnership."
"I'm trying to be strong so I can confront you properly," she mumbled honestly, fighting a childish huff.
Childish. He made her act childish, and she was tired of it.
"I see," he replied, his eyes lingering on some muggle children in the distance.
"I want to know what's happening between us, Edric. I'm a big girl. Well, I suppose I haven't been acting like it lately, but I can handle honesty. I just don't want to play any games. Obviously I have feelings for you, as you make me act like a pathetic schoolgirl around you. We had sex, and you seem to want to move on from it, but then you make comments that confuse me. It's not fair, and I just want it to be clear on what's going on."
"Having sex with you was a mistake," he said simply, indifferently. "And have you considered that you have been reading too much into these 'comments' and they are simply a part of my usual personality?"
"Are you telling me that you expect me to believe-" That's not what he said. Ophelia took a breath as she cut herself off, remembering his cute little habit of implying things and then acting as if the implications meant nothing. "No, I haven't considered it because I know you and I've noticed the changes in the way you speak to me."
"You know me, now do you?" He asked her, a mocking amusement in his tone.
"I know your mannerisms. I know bits about you. I know you're usually very honest with me.. I think.. Though you do like to be vague sometimes and you're occasionally infuriating about it, but I know you treat me differently from when we first came into acquaintance. You're also more cruel now after what happened."
"You make me angry," he said, his voice still indifferent.
"I haven't done anything!" She cried in frustration. "You're acting as if I initiated sex with you or that I got between your relationship out of jealousy."
"I never said that you did anything. I said you that you make me angry. I never faulted you for it."
"So you admit that you have some sort of infatuation with me, and don't give me your 'that's not what I said' line. I'm growing tired of that one," she told him firmly, watching his eyes which were still looking at their surroundings instead of her.
"I'm not admitting to anything," he replied, one corner of his mouth fighting to raise at her comment.
"You said having sex with me was a mistake," she said slowly, biting her lip. "Which means that you didn't use me just so you could use me as some 'I had sex with a muggle-born' trophy. Which means you did want me against your better judgement."
He snorted loudly, looking offended at her words. "Trophy? No pure-bloods would view you as a trophy. However, if you'd like to be treated shamelessly as a toy and be truly degraded in that way I'd recommend going to Slytherins like Burgess Rookwood or Coleman Macnair. Perhaps you could get away with Corwin Higgs, but I believe the lowest they go is usually half-bloods. Though if you find how I treat you as cruel, I'd advise against Rookwood and Macnair."
"I don't like when you talk about me as if I'm less than or 'low', Edric," she said quietly. "It doesn't make me feel good. I care about your opinion, and though I'm delusional for that, I wish you wouldn't talk like that unless you mean it. If you mean it and truly believe that, then tell me. I do enjoy being your friend-"
"Friend," he scoffed.
"Please don't interrupt me," she told him levelly. "I do enjoy being your friend, well before you became so rude, but I also respect myself too much to continue to be made to feel unworthy of your presence."
"You feel unworthy yet you still requested it," he countered, meeting her eyes.
"Edric," she groaned, covering her forehead with one hand as she closed her eyes to sigh before opening them to look at him again. "Please stop being difficult. Please. You're hurting my feelings."
Edric frowned at that, catching her off guard with that reaction as he searched her eyes, seeming to catch himself off guard as well.
"I don't believe that."
"That you're hurting my feelings?"
"That you're less than me," he said slowly, his eyes becoming unfocused as if he was surprised at himself for speaking the words.
"Are you sure?"
Edric's jaw tensed as he stared through her, seeming to be fighting through his own head. "I wish I wasn't."
"Well, that's not very nice," she mumbled, shaking her head at herself.
Was it worth it? Trying to have some type of relationship with this man? She missed how they were before things became complicated, before they shifted. She had called him honest, but perhaps it was the false him she missed. Either way, she did miss their talks as partners. They didn't always talk much during class, but when they did she enjoy them and him. He was calming. At the same time he was here fighting himself on whether or not he saw her as beneath him and even seemed reluctant to admit that he didn't. She hated herself for feeling warmed at his denial towards looking down at her, she hated herself for giving him credit for being a decent human being in the smallest sense of the word.
But that was how he was raised, and surely he deserved credit for seeing past that, didn't he?
"What do you want from me, Ophelia?" He sighed in defeat, running a hand through his hair.
She blinked at the sight, shocked at seeing him come slightly undone. He was always so sure of himself, so collected. His voice and his face seemed vulnerable now, flustered.
"What do you want from me? I mean, I wasn't expecting marriage after we had sex, and I won't say that I don't regret it completely, but I also knew you wouldn't profess your love to me afterwards. It's not as though I was necessarily saving myself for marriage, and I know you were most likely to be a be better experience than whoever else I would have lost it to.." She trailed off. She was babbling now, not really knowing where she was going with this. She didn't know what she wanted from him, just as he seemed to not know what he wanted from her.
"I don't know," he told her clearly, raising his eyebrows. Again, it seemed as if he was also speaking to himself.
He jumped and grimaced when a pair of muggle children ran past him, squealing as they played tag. She smiled sadly, not sure if he was making the face of distaste at the fact that the children were muggles or if it was over the noise the children made.
"Do you want to come to my house? My mum isn't home. There won't be little kids there."
"Your house?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Ophelia nodded, biting her lip. She could truly be alone with him without the tenseness of being in public or at school. "Unless you'd rather me go to yours.." She suggested, attempting humor.
He smirked, offering an arm to her. "Alright."
Ophelia stared at him in confusion. "What?"
"My house."
"You.. No.." She said slowly, remembering his intimidating family and how his father had interacted with Charlotte. She definitely was not prepared to go to such a home containing such people where she would be unprotected and there would be no one around for them to keep their image up for.
"Then why offer?"
"Would you have actually brought me?"
"No," he chuckled. "Take me to your home then."
Ophelia faltered slightly at his agreement, picturing her house then which would most likely seem like a pathetic little shack to him. "Will you explain to me what your father did to Charlotte first?"
"What does that have to do with me going home with you?"
"Nothing, but I'm stalling," she admitted.
"My father is a skilled Legilimens," he told her, not offering anything further.
"Care to elaborate?" She pushed, standing from the bench she had been sitting on as she pressed the man.
"Elaborate on what? I wasn't the one in her head, love. But talented Legilimens can pull forth both memories and the pain that one experienced during those memories, both physical and mental. I assume that's what he was doing, as what was it he said? Something about our own demons? Do try to pay attention."
"That's awfully dark, as well as invasive," Ophelia said slowly, recalling what she had learned about Legilimency. "Can you do that?"
Edric frowned indifferently. "Not nearly as well, but I prefer not to."
"Because it's awfully dark?"
"Because it's invasive."
"How considerate," she mumbled, eyeing him suspiciously. "You haven't been in my head have you?"
"I don't need to be in your head to know what you're thinking," he told her, looking amused with her questions in a way that made her feel silly.
"So does this mean we can be friends again?"
"I don't want to be your friend, Ophelia. I believe I made that clear when I fucked you into the ground."
Ophelia flushed and swallowed, surprised at his vulgarity. "Well," she said slowly. "I want to be your friend."
"No you don't, or you would not have enjoyed being fu-"
"Okay, enough please!" She cut him off, waving her hands. "I prefer when you're polite! So what do you want then? If you are being difficult about being my friend?"
"Don't ask to label this. I will only disappoint you. We cannot be caught together being anything beyond class partners, and after we finish Hogwarts there isn't much I can do with you after that," he told her, watching her eyes seriously. "I'm not going to pretend like we can be anything, Ophelia, but if you do insist on spending time with me aside from working on assignments and discussing school work then I will be willing."
Ophelia was quiet for a while, thinking this over. She knew it wasn't a good idea. If she was already this attached to him when they had only had time together when they worked on their classwork, she should imagine how attached to him she would become should she actually have some sort of secret relationship with him, not to mention what her mother would think of her to know she agreed to meet some uppity, better-than-everyone rich boy in secret because he was too ashamed to meet with her in public.
But she wasn't her mother, and she knew it wasn't that simple for him.
"Okay.. Okay," she sighed. "But please treat me with respect, and I don't want to just be having sex with you."
"Who said anything about sex?"
"You did." She scowled at him, crossing her arms. "I brought up friendship. You brought up sex."
"I suppose you're right," he allowed. "Though that is not what I'm after."
"Good. Follow me then."
Surprisingly, he had met with her a few more times during the last bit of their break and they had not spent their time shagging. He had avoided looking too much at the more obviously muggle items in her home, pretending as if they didn't exist really, and had respectfully sat in the chair in her bedroom. He simply talked with her, revealing more about him than he ever had. He was much more relaxed while in a safer setting where they could be alone, and he was not nearly as intimidating. Her cliche schoolgirl infatuation with the bad boy Slytherin was turning into something else, something deeper in only a few meetings with him.
Yes, becoming closer with him outside of their class had been an entirely horrific idea.
On the final day he had agreed to meet with her before their break ended he had been watching her curiously for a while as she looked out her window at the snow falling outside when he called her over to him.
"What?" She asked him, frowning at him curiously.
"Come here," he told her, motioning.
"Please?" She replied, tilting her head expectantly.
Edric rolled his eyes before shaking his head slowly. "Please come here," he said dully, muttering some words under his breath further, words she couldn't quite catch.
She smirked and he snorted at her smug expression, laughing lightly. A small thrill ran through her spine at the sound as she walked over to him. He was becoming so much more human around her, himself. His real self. He took her hand gently, pulling her down into his lap as he sat in the chair against his welcoming chest, pulling her legs up by her knees to cross over his. She didn't want to waste time being shy about this, so instead she buried her face into his neck, sliding her hands up his chest affectionately. He had not touched her much during the few times they had met, but when he had they were sweet such as this. He hadn't tried to sleep with her or touch her inappropriately, and she was pleased that he wasn't treating her as his dirty little shag.
His breath hitched and halted when she pressed her face against the skin of his neck and began to touch his chest. She didn't comment on it or pull away, she had noticed these odd little habits about him in the past, and he resumed breathing regularly when he began to gently stroke her curls. The light touches against her hair made her stomach flutter and her chest pain and she curled her fingers against his chest slightly, knowing she couldn't keep him. He would never be hers. She was only hurting herself letting herself become so close to him. Ophelia sighed, pushing the thoughts away as she convinced herself to just live in the moment. She was young, she was allowed to live in the moment wasn't she? She could make more responsible decisions later. She kissed the skin of his neck lightly, feeling him shift underneath her and she pulled back to look at him, her face right in front of his. His eyes locked with hers in the most intense way, and she had never seen his light blue eyes look so honest. She closed the distance between their faces, brushing her mouth up against his before kissing him sweetly, enjoying just this simple intimacy with him.
She broke the kiss to curl up into his lap properly, leaning her head against his shoulder in their silence, enjoying the still of the room as he resumed stroking her hair until she fell asleep against his chest.
"Char, love. Are you still getting into fights with that mudblood who snitched on you?" Corwin Higgs called to the front of the room in Potions class once the break had ended at Charlotte Blythe loudly before the professor had entered the room. Charlotte did not turn from her stiff, upright posture in her seat, ignoring him completely as well as the couple of other Slytherins who snickered at his question.
"That mudblood being me," Ophelia muttered from her seat near the boy, offended that he had the audacity to use the term so loudly in the middle of class.
Of course she should have ignored him, she immediately realized when he turned his head slowly to look at her, a slow grin crossing over his mischievous features before he dragged a hand through his dirty blonde and tousled hair. He stood from his seat, slinking over to slide right next to her in the open spot beside her, leaning in close to her.
"Is that so, pretty girl? Well, I ought to thank you for that one. It was about time the bitch was knocked off her pedestal. Tell me, how many smacks on the arse do you think she got from her daddy for that?" He asked, his tone mocking and silken as his light brown eyes flashed in his entertainment.
She should have just ignored him. Why hadn't she ignored him?
As Ophelia exited her class, she could feel Corwin on her heals as she went to turn to follow the other Ravenclaws, yipping in alarm when a hand grabbed her arm and tugged her towards a tall male body, dragging her towards the walking Slytherins with him.
God dammit.
"Don't look so put out, precious. Don't you want to be my friend?" Higgs tsked, releasing her arm as he apparently expected her to continue walking beside him on her own will.
She glanced uncomfortably at the other Slytherins around them, some ignoring her while others gave her scornful or amused looks. She wasn't sure which type of look she found more irritating.
"Don't worry, my little muggle-born. I won't let the mean Slytherins hurt you," he cooed before grinning towards Charlotte's back as she walked confidently in front of them. "See, I can use nice words too. Give me a pat on the back. What made you want to snitch on poor little Char, eh? Have a crush on Greengrass?" Corwin jerked his head towards Edric who was walking with his couple of friends she had seen him around, the group of them coming from a different corridor.
"He's boring, they are all boring, poppet. You have me to guide you around the proper fun Slytherins now. We could make it very fun for you," he purred, leaning near her face.
Ophelia jumped when a Slytherin girl appeared next to her, twirling a piece of Ophelia's hair in her finger, looking her up and down with a cruel smirk on her face. "Never kissed a mudblood before. Do you think they taste as good as half-bloods, Cor?" She asked her housemate coyly.
Ophelia stopped walking in disgust, stumbling forward again quickly as she nearly caused a few dangerously harsh looking boys to knock into her in her sudden halt.
"Careful there. They're not as nice to muggle-borns as we are." Corwin grinned at her, winking.
Ophelia was distracted as the witch who had made comments about kissing her raised a small vial of a peculiar looking potion to her lips, tipping it back quickly before slipping the vial back inside her robes, waggling her eyebrows at Ophelia when she caught her staring.
"Was that..?" Ophelia asked dubiously, shocked the girl had done such a thing at school of all places.
She knew the Wizarding World had their potion equivalent to muggle drugs, and she had seen descriptions of it in books, but never had she witnessed someone actually take one.
Ophelia jumped when a prefect called angrily for them to stop, walking over to the three of them looking accusing, demanding what the girl had just put in her mouth. The prefect looked to Ophelia, and she was assuming it was because he trusted the Ravenclaw over the two Slytherins. Ophelia felt a flutter of fear when she caught Corwin's threatening gaze on her, his face suddenly dark and full of warning as she was put on the spot.
"I.. She was feeling ill so I gave her something. I've been reading up on potions for illness," Ophelia explained, hoping her terrible lying skills would not be too obvious to the Hufflepuff prefect.
"Hmm. Next time go to the hospital wing," he grumbled irritably, seeming to accept that answer before moving on.
"Good girl." Corwin's purr was even deeper than before. "We don't snitch on our friends, now do we?"
"I can't believe you're getting so close to it, Higgs," a younger boy commented as he passed them, sneering at Ophelia in disgust.
"Be nice! I'm sure my muggle-born has bathed. You've bathed, haven't you, beautiful? Yes, it's just their blood that's filthy. I'm sure I'll be fine if her skin slips against mine just a bit," Corwin said, caressing the side of her face as she stared at his hand in bewilderment, amused at the boy when he picked up the pace of his steps in disgust.
"Tell me, what did exactly did Char do to get those grades she wanted? She suck the professor's knob?" Corwin inquired before she could say anything to defend herself at the way she was being spoken about, raising his eyebrows at her innocently.
She held her tongue when she went to snap at him, figuring getting into a fight with the boy trying to get a reaction out of her in the middle of all these Slytherins was not a wise decision.
Charlotte stopped to whirl around, glaring at the offending wizard angrily. "I did no such thing. How dare you accuse me of such a lowly act, Higgs. You know full well I would never."
Corwin blinked, looking between Charlotte and Ophelia. "Now, now, Princess. I believe I was asking my little muggle-born what the truth was. She will settle this, won't you?" He asked, looking down at Ophelia expectantly.
Oh no, no no..
She either had to further the animosity between her and Charlotte Blythe, or potentially make an enemy out of this overpowering, oddly intimidating male in his mocking kindness.
"Well I certainly saw Charlotte's mouth places much lower than it should ever be on a professor.." She lied, wincing slightly at her words, feeling guilty even though the witch had been so cruel to her.
"Aha! Oh, Princess, you bad girl. How could you? What would daddy say? What did daddy say?" Corwin asked Charlotte, his eyes widening in his delight.
Charlotte's face reddened with anger and humiliation. "I will not have a mudblood incriminate me for something I didn't do," she hissed angrily, speeding up her own page to get away from them just as the other boy had.
"She already did, Char! But don't worry, one man's loss is another man's gain," he said loudly, smirking when she turned to look at him again, her face pale.
"What are you talking about, Higgs."
"I think you know what I'm implying, Princess. Don't play stupid. Well, you did have to blow a professor to get a decent grade I suppose.."
Charlotte looked at him wildly before shaking her head slowly. "You're a liar," she said, her voice thick with anger and fear.
"Are you going to cry? I just hope you cry! Cry on our wedding night too. It just gives me the best pleasure to see your uppity arse crumble. Oi!"
Ophelia heard Corwin break off as she slipped from his side to escape down the upcoming hallway, squeezing her eyes shut in annoyance when she heard his footsteps behind her before he looped his arm around her shoulders, pressing her into his side.
"Leaving so soon, pet? What's the matter? Don't like being my friend? Scared of Char? I wouldn't let my fiancé hurt my friend of all people. Don't you trust me?"
"No," she said firmly, trying to pull away from his embrace, thankful to be away from the rest of the Slytherins. "Please stop being so touchy."
He stopped their walking, feigning hurt in his eyes as he looked down at her. "You don't? Careful, I might not want to be your friend after you say such mean things to me. I trust you. You've earned my trust. I bet I'm your first Slytherin friend. Well, Char seems to be rather fond of you, so maybe not. Ever kissed one before, pretty? Ever fucked one?" He asked, stepping closer to her daringly and she resisted her urge to step back, knowing full well he was just taunting her. There was nothing he could do to her at school, and if she remembered correctly Edric had said he only touched half-bloods.
However, she felt her face respond to his question in a telling way and she looked away from him, mumbling about needing to get back to her Common Room.
"Wait? Have you?" He asked, moving his face in front of hers so she was forced to look at him. "Who? Oh, I bet it was your little crush Greengrass, and that's why you fucked his.. Aha. Seriously? I'm right? I was only joking."
"No!" She insisted forcefully, shaking her head hard, cursing herself for ducking her head like an idiot when he had mentioned his name. "I did not. Do you understand, Higgs? I didn't. Don't start any rumors that aren't true. How old are you? Twelve?"
"So testy," he scolded. "I won't snitch on your boyfriend, poppet. I told you to trust me!"
"He's not! There's nothing to trust you about because it isn't true!" She exclaimed, terrified now. Terrified of how Edric would react, wondering if Corwin's speculating could really do anything to his reputation. She didn't know, she didn't know how any of this bullshit worked.
"Alright," he sighed dramatically, pulling the camera that had been hanging around his neck off. "Obviously you don't believe me."
He held the camera out with one hand, pointing it at them before he grabbed the back of her hair firmly to kiss her, catching her completely off guard as her lips were parted, just as his were, making the unwanted kiss all the more inappropriate as she felt his tongue touch her lower lip as the camera flashed and she shoved away from him. She stared at him incredulously, horrified and angry at this completely invasive man.
"What is wrong with you?!" She demanded, wiping her mouth. He wasn't a bad kisser, but she wasn't about to comment on that observation out loud.
"Nothing!" He chirped, hoisting the camera back around his neck. "Nothing wrong with me at all, and don't wipe my kiss away like a little bitch. Now, I'll give you the picture later when I have it. Then you'll have something over me should I betray your trust. Hand the picture over to one of the pure-blood papers if you will. Goodnight, pet."
Ophelia fidgeted next to Edric in class that night, unsure of whether to tell him about Corwin or not. She didn't want him to get angry with her and make him feel as if she would get him caught, but she didn't know if not telling him would result in something worse.
"When I told you about Higgs I was not meaning for you to take me seriously, love," he told her lightly when they arrived at their regular spot outside. "Are you going to approach Rookwood and Macnair next? Are you trying to get a rise out of me publicly?"
No, she definitely shouldn't tell him.
Ophelia in present day was adjusting photos on her and her husband's walls when the knock on the door came and she immediately went to open it to find Adrian Pucey there at her front door, smiling charmingly at her.
"May I come in, Mrs. Greengrass?" He asked sweetly, raising his dark eyebrows at her.
She pursed her lips for a moment before opening the door wider, allowing the handsome wizard to enter her home.
"Is your husband around?"
"Edric!" She called loudly, causing Adrian to lean away from her and grimace.
"Shit, love. Be careful of my ear, yeah?"
"Sorry," she muttered, leading him into the living room and motioning to the couch. He took it upon himself to make himself perfectly at home, dropping himself onto the couch comfortably while kicking his legs up.
Edric came in, look between Ophelia and Adrian calmly. "Pucey. If you would remove your feet from my furniture that would be lovely."
"Now, brother. Don't be rude when I'm here to update you on all things your family. My friend here is never so rude to me. I'd have been here sooner but your sister is a lot of work, let me tell you. Plus, I only have shitty news to tell you, and I don't really like bringing people down to be honest."
"Don't call her your friend," Edric said smoothly. "She has nothing to offer you, so there is no need."
"What are you talking about when you say I have nothing to offer him?" Ophelia demanded, crossing her arms. "You act as though I'm useless. I can be a good friend."
"Claiming someone as a friend is their cute way of claiming allyship, love. It has nothing to do with your capabilities of being a good friend. It means something different to them entirely."
"Is that what Corwin Higgs proposed to me in our seventh year?" She asked, feeling slightly smug at the thought of two arrogant pure-bloods apart from her husband considering her useful.
"What?" Adrian asked, sitting up in offense. "Higgs claimed you as a friend? Oh no. Never mind. I take back my notions of friendship. You've been tarnished."
"When did Higgs do anything like that, Ophelia? When were you around him so much?"
"Well that day right after winter break in seventh year. In the hallways when he kissed me-"
"Excuse me," Edric cut her off flatly. "Come again?"
"Oooh," Adrian came childishly. "Apparently the muggle-born has made her away the established pure-blood list more than we thought."
"Well, Edric. Don't look at me like that. I couldn't tell you because it was a secret-"
"Excuse me?" Edric repeated, sneering the words at her as his face twisted in disgust.
Adrian laughed loudly, standing from the couch. "You can't be mad at her for keeping a secret, Greengrass. She has to earn the name you've given her somehow, no? Should I come back another time? You're not going to hit her, are you?"
"Of course I'm not going to hit her," Edric snapped at him, his eyes glowing with anger.
"It was years ago, Edric," Ophelia told him, glaring at him. "He kissed me and took a photo of it so I'd have something over him because he found out about the two of us - don't say excuse me again! I mean it! I didn't tell you because I thought you would be mad."
"I'm mad," Edric countered, his eyes narrowing just slightly.
"Why! It's irrelevant that he knew now! You've already.." She trailed off as she decided not to finish her words, feeling guilty now.
"Speaking of," Adrian interjected. "Back to why I'm here. I wanted to tell you about what's going on with your family. Are you not interested, Greengrass?"
"The only thing you know how to do is tattle," snarled a very young Astoria, shoving her older sister hard and causing her to topple down on the grass, a blonde boy looking on beside her.
"I'm sorry, cousin Freya," the young boy began to rush out to the woman that had caught them, his voice heavily accented. His face was flushed along with the guilty expression that was plastered onto it. "We weren't trying to get into trouble." The boy's eyes widened in fear as an older man walked over to him, his stream of apologies switching from English to German, addressing the man as his grandfather.
"My daughter continues to be a horrible influence on your grandson it seems, Uncle," Freya said stiffly, yanking Astoria back and away from her sister by her shoulder.
The man, blonde and quite large, began to reply to her in German. Freya's mouth set into a hard line as she listened, waiting for him to finish.
"You know I prefer English, Uncle."
Astoria yanked viciously away from her mother, shoving her hands away. "Let me go!" She demanded angrily.
Freya's eyes flashed, her chest rising with her furious breath. "Have you lost your mind, Astoria?" She hissed, grabbing Astoria by one of her braids to jerk her back to her. "You think you can push me like that? Your mother?"
Astoria yelped in pain, grabbing her mother's wrist as her neck was inclined to the side by the hold on her hair.
"She's just a child, Freya," the older wizard said next to her, raising an eyebrow. "I don't remember your mother ever being so violent with you."
Freya's eyes flickered in his direction at the mention of her mother before she zeroed back in on her protesting child. "I never needed it."
The man threw back his head slightly in his deep laughter, resting a hand on his niece's shoulder, causing Freya to look up and scowl at him.
Astoria drew a small knife from her pocket, the silver of the blade engraved with her brother's name as she drew it against her braid, appearing to move to cut her braid in order to release herself. When Freya shifted, however, she ended up slicing into her mother's hand. Freya gasped in pain, dropping her daughter's hair immediately as beads of blood began to gather at the line of the cut. "Astoria Conradina-"
The woman's furious words were cut off as Aldrich Greengrass came up behind his daughter, placing a hand on the back of her neck as he plucked the knife from her hand before kneeling next to her, his face stone in its lack of emotion.
"Your temper will be your undoing, Astoria."
Draco had to stifle a short laugh in agreement as the images in the room filtered out, thinking of the glimpses of his wife's temper he had seen already. She had been a cute child, undoubtedly, but certainly a little brat at times. Not that he had any room to talk, he was well aware of how he had been as a child, and he didn't fully blame Astoria for not being fond of him. According to these memories, he had been a little prick to her as he had been to everyone. Draco stood from the couch to cover the Pensieve, heading to his bedroom as he figured she would be awake soon. He had seen his mother that morning, though he preferred not to see her in the mornings as his father was usually awake. He wasn't as bad as he once was, that was at least a positive, though he was still incredibly worried to leave his mother alone there with him, especially when they were each other's only contact outside of Draco.
Perhaps the safe house wasn't a good idea.
No, the Manor would not be safer. His home's wards were good, but it didn't change the fact of what his home once was, and he didn't want his parents there on top of the fact his father surely would not pass the Aurors little inspections of them in his madness. The only reason Draco was there was to hold onto the family home after what had happened to it during the War and appear to have some dignity in their name and property left after they had been made a mockery out of by the Dark Lord. Draco kept up his father's investments, though there wasn't too much work to that as his family didn't bother too much with keeping up on their wealth as they had well beyond what they needed to keep themselves rich for generations to come, but it was better than doing nothing. He had already gone for his walk along his property that morning, which was one of his most clearheaded times to be outside in actual fresh air to empty his head. He considered taking another one but decided he'd just see if Astoria was awake. He was beginning to crave her presence more and more, and that made him uncomfortable. It was hard not to feel close to a girl he was learning so much about through her past. He hadn't been angry about the incident with Nott, quite smug about it actually, but he was aware she hadn't initiated the contact. Not that time, anyway. He truly hoped Nott was still thinking about it, the miserable piece of shit.
Surprisingly, Draco found Astoria awake and playing with his puzzle box.
"You can have anything you want, we have all the money in the world, yet you want to play with my things," he drawled, closing his bedroom doors as he took off his cloak that he had yet to remove from being outside.
"Didn't your mother teach you to share?" She asked, looking up at him with her annoyingly sweet eyes.
"No. I'm an only child," he told her, rolling her eyes. "I thought you were observant."
"You're right. Was that lonely? Do you wish you had siblings?"
Draco shrugged. He wasn't sure. Yes, he was quite lonely at times, but he wasn't sure if a sibling would fix that, and it would have just been another loved one to end up harmed due to his father's choices.
"I've been thinking about your mother," Astoria sighed, moving on from the matter of siblings. "I'm worried about her."
"As am I, obviously."
"Can't she stay here? Wouldn't she be safer?"
"No," Draco replied, shaking his head. "My father would have to be here as well, and he's too mad to face the Aurors, and too mad to hide here without being noticed by them as well."
She frowned, crawling to the edge of the bed to take his hand. He allowed her to have it, slightly surprised as he glanced down at her holding it, her soft thumbs tracing circles into his skin.
"I just get worried. I adore your mother, and I miss talking to her. I know she had a hard time during the war.. Sometimes in the past I've felt closer to her than my own mother," she said quietly, staring down at his hand.
Draco felt his face soften at her wards, tilting her chin up with his free hand to look at her and examine her face, her face filled with sincere concern.
Of course she was using his love for his mother to weasel her way into his soft spot.
Draco kissed her head in appreciation, his lips lingering there for a moment as he considered how true her words were. Most of the girls he had the potential to marry wouldn't have felt the same, their fondness for his mother would have been only for show to earn his name. Astoria had real respect for his mother, and he knew she wasn't simply trying to manipulate him. How could he not have a tenderness for a girl who cared about his mother second to how much he did himself? Of course she earned points from him in her proper treatment of Narcissa.
Astoria smiled sadly when he pulled away, raising his hand to kiss the back of it. "It's early enough to still get away with having breakfast, don't you think?"