the blood curse: a drastoria fanfiction

broomsticks

"your mum and dad are death eaters." - rose granger-weasley
"dad was - but mum wasn't." - scorpius malfoy
                              - the cursed child

Astoria's homework took about five seconds to do. Looking around for her other friends, she saw that Blaise was writing a Charms essay and Pansy and Draco were still making out by the fireplace. Rolling her eyes at them, she left the common room, intending to wander around until her mind was cleared. 

"Astoria!" 

The girl turned around. Somebody was calling her name. Soon enough, she spotted Hermione Granger at the end of the hall, walking towards her. 

"Hi," Astoria greeted. The girl nodded and started to walk alongside Astoria. 

"What're you doing here?" 

"Trying to clear my head," Astoria responded easily. She could tell that Hermione had something else on her mind. 

"What happened when Draco took you out of the room at breakfast a few days ago? Did you get hurt?" the Gryffindor asked, biting her lip. 

Astoria shrugged. "He just yelled at me. I almost slapped him, though."

The other laughed. "I get what you mean. Sometimes I feel like I could slap Ron." 

Blushing, the Slytherin said, "We're not, um, dating... Draco and I, I mean." 

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I just assumed..." Hermione looked extremely flustered. 

"It's okay. Haven't you noticed the way Pansy is draped over him in public?" Astoria couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. 

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Astoria's tone but didn't urge her to elaborate. Instead, she said, "I slapped Malfoy once." 

Astoria stopped in her tracks and stared at her. "What? When?"

The girl chuckled. "Third year. He deserved it." 

"He probably did," Astoria conceded. Talking to Hermione was so easy. 

Suddenly, the girl turned to her, curiosity in her eyes. "Why do you need to clear your head?" 

An irrestistable urge came over her. An urge to tell the truth. "I have a blood curse." 

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down. "Does anyone know?"

"Only you and my sister, so please don't tell anyone," Astoria said. Hermione looked a little honored and a little scared. "I have to go to St. Mungo's once a week. They're trying to delay its effects. I have at least a few years." 

"Oh," Hermione said again. Then, she looked up. "Well, do you need any help?"

"Help?" the dark haired girl asked, confused. 

"Yeah, help. Do you need to know more about the curse, or how to stop it? There has to be something..." she mused. Suddenly, she tugged on Astoria's arm. "Come on, we're going to the library." 

Astoria chuckled and followed her. 

°

A few hours later, Astoria returned to the common room. Her friends were still there, except they were playing Wizard Chess. Within seconds, Draco and Pansy had won against Blaise. The black queen smashed the white king, and the game was declared officially over. 

"Hey, guys," Astoria said, walking to the group.

"Hi, Astoria," Pansy and Blaise said. Draco continued to ignore her. She rolled her eyes. 

"We were about to go to the Quidditch pitch, want to join us?" Blaise asked. She nodded eagerly. She'd loved Quidditch since she was a child. She wasn't halfway bad, either. Then, she realized she was feeling really, really tired. And the stars were coming back. Maybe going on a broom while she was feeling faint wasn't a good idea. 

"Oh, you know what? I have to do a lot of homework and I'm really sleepy, so maybe I should just stay here..." 

"Okay. Don't work too hard," Blaise said, winking at her as he left the room. 

"Draco? You coming?" Pansy asked suspiciously. 

"I need to talk to Astoria about our Herbology test last week," the boy lied easily. "I'll catch up with you guys later." 

Pansy nodded, shot one last nervous look at Astoria, and followed Blaise out. As soon as the wall had reformed behind them, Draco looked at the remaining girl. "Astoria, you-"

"I'm going to bed," Astoria said quickly, collecting her things and starting to walk up the staircase to the Girls' dormitories. She felt his stare on her and ordered herself not to look back. As the stars got bigger and bigger, and the world got darker and darker, the girl felt her way to a bed - any bed, she didn't care which - and crashed, surrendering herself to the darkness. 

°

Draco finished up his Herbology test corrections a few minutes later and gathered his things, ready to retire to the boys' dormitories. Halfway up the staircase leading to them, however, the boy stopped and changed tracks. He'd just check on her, make sure she was okay... 

He must be quiet, though, or else he'd be facing Merlin's fury when she woke up... 

Arriving at the Girls' dorms, he cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. If Astoria saw him like this...

She was sound asleep on... Pansy's bed? Why? It was closest to the door, yes, but was she really so tired that she couldn't walk another two feet to get to her own bed? And her breathing was weird, too. Her chest was rising and falling much more quickly and irregularly than usual... 

Suddenly, she stirred. 

Draco ran.