Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Astoria scoffed, "I am not here because I want to be! You took me! You took me from my friends, you are trying to destroy Hogwarts all over again, and you're destroying me!"

"I am building character, you always were too weak, your mother shouldn't have treated you as she did, the affection did no good for you." He found it easy to speak ill of his late wife, after all, their marriage had been nothing more than an arrangement of blood purity. "You needed toughening up, and that is what you have done this year. I have influenced you well."

"I was always tough," she spat back at him, "you didn't do this to me! I did this for myself. I was always tough; I just have reasons to be strong now."

"Was I not reason enough?"

"Never." She said with venom, he was nothing to her anymore. "You cut all ties with me and Daphne when you began worshipping a monster, when you let them use our house, let them use us. You were happy to stand aside and watch as your children were manipulated into soldiers, fighting for the wrong bloody side!"

"Happy?" He raised his brows, "Astoria I was not happy, no I was ecstatic. When the Dark Lord asked of me for my daughters, for me to train you, I more than willingly obliged. In fact, I offered you up, I was proud to be asked. You were not used as a punishment like that Draco boy, the Dark Lord let me place you into battle for him. You were his army, and then you made the wrong choice."

"I made the right choice- the choice that saved my life." She protested to him. Staying in Hogwarts had saved her life, taking refuge in Hogsmeade was the reason she was alive today. Had she stood beside her father on the battlefield, today could have never happened, her story could have written its last page on that fateful day.

"Your life was saved for nothing. You have done nothing good for yourself Astoria," he snapped at her. "Once we have Daphne, we will restore the Greengrass legacy, we shall do what the Dark Lord wanted of us."

She shook her head, "I won't. I won't do anything for you."

"It wouldn't be for me; it would be for your life."

"Take it," she said quickly, "I'm dying anyway."

"So stubborn Astoria..." He tutted her, "too stubborn for my liking."

Astoria groaned, glancing over at the closed door in front of her, "where are we?"

"We are still in Hogsmeade Astoria, we are just close enough to watch it all unfold...." He smirked at her, "overcoming the anti-apparition charms was easy enough, I am surprised others have not tried before us..."

"Now what?"

"Now," he turned away from her, glancing out of one of the foggy windows, "we collect Daphne."

Astoria saw her chance, whilst her back was turned she darted towards the door, pressing her body weight against it with force. She pushed as hard as she could, again, and again.

"Petrificus Totalus," her father called from behind her, clear disappointed in his voice as he watched his daughter's body go rigid, falling to the ground. "You should have known I would not allow you to leave so easily, Astoria, our family is to be together forever."

Her eyes darted across his face, her mouth longing to work, longing to cry out.

"I suppose, you must remain here whilst I locate Daphne." Wandlessly, he cast a spell to open the door, sliding on a cloak and sending his body into a state of invisibility. "I sure hope your friends do not get in the way; I have already warned Emelda that I am not afraid to remove them."

She wanted to scream out, to warn them, to warm somebody, but her lips were sealed shut. Her entire body was paralysed, unable to move anything but her hazel eyes across the room. Despite her eyes darting across every corner of the room, she was still none the wiser as to where she was.

Every inch of her body craved to move, to let herself out of her prison of a body, but her countless attempts proved futile. She might not have been able to move, but it didn't stop the silvery tears from leaving her eyes, rolling down her pinked cheeks.

"Look Pansy, I don't bloody know where they are! What do you think we're doing now?"

Astoria paused, holding in her breath as soon as she heard the voice.

"Well where the fuck is she then?"

She heard Pansy's shrill voice through the walls, her friends were here somewhere.

"Shut up for a minute! Please!"

All Astoria could do was listen hopelessly as her friends traipsed through the corridors, unaware of her paralysed body only a few short steps away. She tried to breath as fast as she could, making the only noise her body could, but still, it was barely audible even to her, let alone her friends.

"Hey," she heard Blaise's voice calling from the other side of the wall. "This is hollow..."

Several quiet knocks followed.

"And?" Pansy questioned him and Astoria could already tell she had rolled her eyes at him with a huff.

"Bombarda!" He called out, the wall imploding before Astoria, sending wooden planks flying across the room, narrowly missing her.

"Shit!" Pansy cried out, rushing towards her, "Astoria what the fuck do I do?" She held her friends' hand in her own, "Blaise?"

"Draco would know," he tapped his foot against the ground, "it's a spell, something about repairs."

Astoria moved her eyes rapidly.

"Astoria," he stared at her, "what does that mean? Is that a, yes?"

She moved them again, up and down.

"Re-Reparo?" 

At once, the broken planks around the room re-formed, shattered glass fixing itself back into a lamp.

"Nice redecoration Blaise, but that isn't what we wanted-"

"Shut up Pansy!" He cut her off, his voice sharper than Astoria had ever heard it. "Reparo, Reparation, Reparify, Repara, Reparifors-"

Astoria felt the life coming back to her body at once, her lips parting slightly, "thank you."

Blaise barely heard her over his own shouting, only stopping once Pansy yelled his name.

"Astoria what fucking happened?"

"We didn't see you, we got trapped in the smoke-"

"Slughorn had to come get us out," Pansy finished his sentence for him, "he actually let us come on our own!"

"It was my father, he's here. He's looking for Daphne." She wiped the dust from her arm, wincing as her hand touched her blister. "He took my wand too." She stood up, putting her weight on Pansy as she regained her balance. "Where's Daphne?

"She was going to the Hogsmeade Station with Theo, we haven't seen them since we left the Three Broomsticks." Pansy kept her hand in Astoria's, "are you okay, to carry on I mean?"

Astoria nodded, holding back the tears as she felt the pain of the burning blisters on her arm, "we just need to find Daphne."

"McGonagall went to meet some Aurors, she said the Ministry had made it here, they were placing strong Anti-Apparition charms when we left her..."

"We should get going then," Astoria said with a sigh, "we need to find Daphne before my father does."

"What about Draco?" Blaise said after a pause, Astoria hadn't mentioned him yet.

She shook her head, "he's not here. My father said Lucius probably took him somewhere, but I- I think he's safe." She clambered over the hole in the wall with Pansy's support, "my father hadn't heard from Lucius since they left Azkaban, I don't think they were in on the same plan."

"So it's just our parents, and Theo's then?"

Pansy groaned, "mine might not be involved..." But the conviction in her voice was lacking, "we don't know that he is yet."