the blood curse: a drastoria fanfiction

a broken heart pt. II

When Damascus made the curse public in his book Blood Curses: The Way to Make Your Enemy Pay!, it grew in popularity. However, most perpetrators of the blood curse weren't magically talented enough to perform it completely, so in many instances, the curse wouldn't reappear every few generations or wasn't fatal. However, there are some notable blood curses that still exist today. The Werthy curse is incredibly famous for the amount of pain it inflicts on its victims. The Greengrass curse is perhaps the longest surviving curse ever, famous for making its victims incredibly well liked so their deaths cause terrible pain within the whole family. The Fey curse is

Astoria slammed the book shut. She couldn't bear to read anymore, not after the section on her curse. Incredibly well liked? What did that even mean?

If she were a recipient of the blood curse, and it made its victims "incredibly well liked", then did that mean...

Did that mean that her personality, the charm she had over people, was all the blood curse's doing?

Don't be silly, Astoria. Madam Pomfrey said it only took hold a few months ago.

But it could've been there longer, inactive, making her into the person she was today, preparing her to die in the most painful way possible...

"What are you reading?"

Astoria turned around to see Draco staring down at the book in her hands. Slamming it shut, she rotated fully to face him. "Nothing that concerns you."

Draco snatched the book from her and held it teasingly above her head. "Blood Curses: A History." He looked at her and smirked. "Doing some light reading, I suppose?"Astoria nodded vehemently. "Or is it more serious?" The girl shook her head. He ignored her.

"Isn't there a Greengrass blood curse?" Draco mused, face neutral but eyes calculating.

"Is there?" Astoria said, trying to keep a straight face. "I wasn't aware."

Suddenly, Draco slammed his fist down on the table. Astoria jumped back in surprise. Seething, the boy looked at her. "You didn't tell me?" he hissed. "You didn't tell me you have a blood curse? Astoria, do you know how serious this is?"

Astoria gave up. "Yeah, I think I do."

Draco looked at her for a second. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, voice hurt.

"The great Draco Malfoy doesn't care about anyone or anything else, isn't that right?" Astoria snapped, starting to collect her things.

"How many times do I have to tell you I care about you?" the boy shouted after her. "How many times do I have to reaffirm that I was worried sick when you kept fainting, that I did everything I could to find out what was going on with you? That I spent so many nights in the library searching up illnesses and cures? How many times, Astoria?"

The girl stopped and turned around for a second. "Just the one."

"Then stay here! We'll - we'll find something before the curse..." he ran his hand through his hair. Astoria had never seen him like this in all her years of knowing him.

"Makes me 'weak and useless'? 'Saps all the energy out of its victim'? It's too late, Draco. You better distance yourself from me now before you get a reputation of hanging out with the meek."

She left. The boy threw the book across the room, unable to control his anger. Ignoring the reprimand from Madam Pince, he stormed out.

But the girl was gone.

•

"How are you?" Daphne asked, sitting down next to her forlorn-looking sister.

"I don't know. Draco found out about the curse last night," Astoria whispered. They were sitting in the Great Hall. Pansy was ignoring them, as usual, and Draco was nowhere to be found. No one bothered to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Daphne's eyes grew wide. "How?"

"He found me researching it in the library last night and put two and two together."

"I hear he broke up with Pansy a few days ago," Daphne said, creasing her brows and casually looking towards the subject of her talk.

Astoria frowned. "I thought she broke up with him."

"If she broke up with him, why would she be this sad?" Daphne countered.

"Because he tried to cheat on her?" Astoria said, looking at Pansy, who was staring longingly at Draco.

"She was ready to forget all of that, but he called it quits," Daphne said.

"How do you know?"

"Pansy told Millicent who told me."

"Oh," Astoria said, gulping. Why had Draco broken up with Pansy?

Then, she thought back to everything that had happened over the past few weeks. Draco visiting her in the hospital wing. Following her, trying to find out what was wrong.

The kiss at the lake. How he'd held her closer than he needed to the night before when he wanted her to tell him why she'd been fainting... 

"What are you going to say next? That my eyes are brown?" 

"Hazel, actually."

Astoria knew at once why he'd broken up with Pansy. 

And she was furious.