Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"What was what about?"

"You know...last night." He smiled awkwardly, "and then just there, Daphne."

"Did you not hear my little moment?" She tried to laugh it off.

"Well, yes." Everyone had heard it, though only a few knew exactly who it had been. When the other students began to gather in the common room, it was all they could talk about, and soon, it would likely be school gossip. "I just didn't....well. I don't know what to say."

"It's okay," she took a deep breath, "I just had a bad night." She tugged at her sleeve, pulling it over her palm.

"I get you," he looked at her, "I get them too sometimes."

Almost all of the Slytherin students did. Even if they hadn't directly been involved in the war, they had heard enough to know what it was like, they had spent enough time with their likely pureblood families to have been on the wrong side of the war. If you listened close enough, there was almost always someone within the castle crying, and more often than not, they were in the Slytherin common room.

"Anyway, how are we going to go about Filch?" He changed the subject, sensing it might be for the best.

"I think we can just see if he's there first," she said quickly, grateful for the distraction, "and if he isn't I'll go in and look, you keep watch and distract him if he comes back."

"Sounds easy enough, me and Filch always have a lot of chat about!"

"But," Astoria added, "if he is there, you distract him and take him somewhere, tell him Peeves is causing problems again, he would be more than happy to go and annoy Peeves. And then I will look again. Did Draco say it had the castle on the front or not?" She had never actually seen the map and her memory was certainly not the finest today.

"Red castle. Marauders Map, tap it and say I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He recited to her, causing her face to drop in shock, "I've been practicing Miss Greengrass." He faked a bow at her.

"You certainly have," Astoria was impressed, "you should put some of that effort into your subjects, it would probably help a lot."

"Or I could Nott!"

Astoria stopped, rolling her eyes.

"Get it. It's funny, because it's my-"

"Theo shut up."

"Well that's rude, you might not appreciate my comedy but some pe-"

She cut him off again, "no, wait." She held her hand up at him, "can you hear that? If she held her breath, she could hear some kind of low growl.

"No, Astoria I don't hear anything. Maybe all that screaming last night burst your ear drums." He shot her a smile, "or maybe you are just aging not so gracefully."

Astoria rolled her eyes, but she let herself smile at his joke, "anyway, Filch's office is right up here so let's go. You go first and see if he's there."

Theo happily went in front, peering into Filch's' Office, "all clear, but if Mrs Norris shows up," he shook his head, "I am out!"

"Fine by me!" Astoria too had a well justified fear of Filch's cat, Mrs Norris. "Keep a lookout, and preferably a good one."

"I'm not Pansy, you don't have to tell me. I learnt all my skills from the best," Theo brandished a golden smile before beckoning her into the office. "Remember to say I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, that way you can see if any of the random pieces of parchment are actually the map."

"Good idea." She stepped into the small office, pulling out her wand and beginning her search. The office was a mess, parchment was sprawled all across the desk, barely visible under the dim glow of the hanging lantern. Filing cabinets lined the walls, letters falling out of them onto the wooden floor.