Tainted Love

The Leaky, Again

DRACO

Breaking up with Astoria had been the easy part.

She was never one for quiet anger - no, her entire body had been shaking with pure rage, as if she had been poisoned. And instead of finding the antidote, she was set on spreading her venom to everyone else.

Her arms flailed, eyes flashed. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was smeared. If it was anyone else he might have felt bad.

Astoria was angry because she had gone to confront Iris in Diagon Alley. Somewhere between her threats, she had gotten it in her head that Draco had lied to her about what happened on Christmas Eve and that he had cheated on her after all.

To be fair, that was the truth.

Somewhere behind her fury was a sick desperation to be proven wrong. If she was through with him she wouldn't have come here in the first place. She wanted him to beg her, to apologize, to cry. She wanted him to tell her that he loved her.

But he looked at her, really looked at her, and he couldn't find anything in her that he wanted. He had known this for a long time, but felt it keenly now. He had resigned himself to her not three days ago, firmly told himself that that was it.

He had put in his fucking two weeks at work and told his mother he was quitting.

He wasn't sure what had changed between then and now. The only thing he could think of was her going to Iris. Astoria and Iris, in Draco's mind, had always existed in two different realities, and he was the only joining factor between them.

He didn't like the fact that Astoria could find Iris and speak to her without his involvement. And the fact that she had tried to threaten her made his blood run hot.

It was a small thing. Small things often matter more than big ones. And what had Iris said? Could you do us both a favor and break things off with her?

She wanted him to. Whatever that meant.

"I hope she was worth it," Astoria started, setting her shoulders back. She had probably been practicing this speech all day, and here was the end of it, the conclusion, the intense finale.

This was the part where he was supposed to break down and beg for her forgiveness. He knew he needed to do it. But he had already done it once on Christmas Eve and he couldn't find the nerve again.

He opened his mouth to tell her that she was the only girl in the world to him, the way he was supposed to.

Instead, he said: "there's really no point in going on." She stopped speaking and her mouth hung open like a fish. "It's overdue, isn't it?"

"So you're not denying it," she said.

"I think you should leave," he replied. "We're obviously through."

She shut her mouth at that, her hands clenching slightly at her side. He wondered whether, between all of their illusions and arguments, she had convinced herself that he liked her. And convinced herself that she liked him, too, because she obviously didn't.

"You can't break up with me," she said. "I'm the one who breaks up with you."

"Tell the Prophet whatever the fuck you want," Draco said, pointing his wand at the door and swinging it open with a nonverbal.

She glared at him, exhaled in disbelief, and stalked out.

He skipped work on Friday without so much as sending in an owl. It didn't really matter anymore, though. They couldn't fire him when he had already quit. It had been strange, handing in his two weeks to Granger. She looked confused the whole time, but she never protested it.