Marriage of convenience (Draco x Astoria)

7- Under the moonlight

"Don't worry, we have all night."

In the end they managed to reach the sentry box, and began to surround the immense castle, in the dark and in silence, so as not to attract attention.

"I have to confess, I had other ideas about moonlight dates," Draco whispered, to ease the tension. She smiled, very nervous. She feared what would happen if her father found out what she was doing. The weakness in her legs didn't help at all, and she became even more nervous.

"Don't worry, there's plenty of time," Draco whispered. But Astoria couldn't calm down, and she didn't breathe easy until they reached the family cemetery.

There she allowed herself to release a small sigh of relief, and they both felt safer, as if nothing bad could happen to them in that place. Astoria guided him to a tomb guarded by the statue of a white angel, and there they remained in silence.

"Her name was Ysabel," Astoria said.

"She was very beautiful," Draco commented, looking at the angel's face.

"It was not made in her image," Astoria corrected him. "My mother was much prettier. I wish you had met her," she smiled. "There was something about her... she made rooms seem brighter when she was present. She always had a smile for everyone, and she was so brave..."

"Then you look like her," Draco observed. She blushed.

"If you had known her you wouldn't say that. I could never be like she was," said the girl, with a hint of sadness. She advanced towards the tomb and placed a simple lily at the angel's feet. Draco put the violet he had brought next to it. "My mother loved violets," Astoria remembered, her eyes shining. That simple gesture had enchanted her. "That's why my father doesn't let them grow here."

"I didn't know, but I also quite like them."

They fell silent again, until Draco asked. "What happened to her? Kali said something, but..."

"My father wanted her money, but she didn't want to give it to him. My parents' marriage contract established the separation of their property, so he couldn't do anything," she explained. "If my mother divorced, he wouldn't get a single knut, and if she died, all her possessions would pass to my sister and me, even though we were minors. However, if my mother became disabled, or if she fell very ill, my father could be the administrator of her assets, so that is why he poisoned her. When she died, my sister was already disinherited, having run away, and I... my illness is the perfect excuse for him to act as my guardian," Astoria explained, with a sad smile.

"I don't understand your father's desire for money. Isn't he already rich enough?"

"Don't fool yourself, Draco, just because he inherited a title doesn't mean he's rich. Actually, my father is in debt. That's why he married my mother, and that's why he wants you to marry me," she explained. "He doesn't care about who you are, or what blood you have, he just wants the money."

"And we want your title, how ironic."

"My mother realized what was happening to her," Astoria continued. "That's why she let my sister run away with her boyfriend, so she could live safely. My father got very angry about that and stopped hiding what he wanted to do. My mother feared for her life, and tried to escape to ask for help, but the effects of the drug were very powerful, and she could not even leave the grounds. My father increased the dose, to pretend that she had gotten worse, and in the end, he killed her."

"Kali told me something similar," Draco remembered. "She also said that your father threatened to kill you if she said anything."

"I know, she told me," Astoria stared at her mother's grave, but she wasn't really looking at it. "You know? At first, I didn't realize what was happening to me. I thought I was really sick, and I was very scared. At that point I still thought that my mother had died from an illness and that I had contracted the same thing as her. I got dizzy and vomited all the time, and my father told me that that green liquid would make me feel better."