the blood curse: a drastoria fanfiction

too little, too late

"anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."
                                                              -  j. k. rowling

°

"Honestly, I'm amazed it didn't kill her -" 

Astoria felt herself returning slowly, painfully, to consciousness. Two blobs were standing at the edge of her bed. One was slightly taller than the other. The brightness in the room must've meant it was daytime. One day had passed. 

"Granger, what the hell are you doing here?" 

"I could say the same to you, Malfoy." Hermione's voice was cold as ice. 

"I'm in the same house as her -" 

"You cheated on her -" 

"You're a Gryffindor and a mudblood. Get away from Astoria's bed!" Draco's voice shook with anger. 

The injured girl's vision sharpened. The two were close to blows now. Draco's hands were in fists and Hermione was reaching for her wand. "Enough." 

"Astoria!" Hermione exclaimed, turning towards the girl after throwing a dirty look at the boy. "How do you feel?" 

Astoria thought for a second. How did she feel? Relieved that the ball was over. A little sore. She could see the faint remnants of deep cuts that the shards of ice must've made when they came crashing down on her, but they weren't hurting. She sent silent thanks up to whoever made the healing salve Madam Pomfrey must've applied. "Ready to run a marathon." She threw a sheepish look at the boy and cleared her throat. "What happened?" 

"You and the ferret were dancing - I'm guessing against your will - and the tower started to crumble. For some reason, you pushed him out of the way instead of saving yourself."

"So you owe me one?" Astoria said, making eye contact with Draco for the first time in weeks. 

"Yes," Draco said, relieved by the friendly tone of her voice. 

"Then you can pay it back to me right now. Stay the hell out of my life. Stop flirting with me and trying to make me jealous because I'll never  be." Astoria had never been more certain of anything in her life than the fact that Malfoy didn't belong in it. Her gaze was suddenly intense and her tone cold. There was nothing warm in her brown eyes. 

Hermione smiled. Draco left. 

°

The next week passed without any words exchanged between the two Slytherins. Draco, it seemed, had officially given up. He and Pansy were a couple again, and Astoria was stuck watching them make out from the other side of the room as she sat, alone, doing mountains of homework. Sometimes Daphne would join her, but most of the time she was occupied with Blaise. The two had become an official couple after the ball. 

January turned into February, and February turned into March. The snow that had covered everything for the past three months started to shrink back into the shadows as the sun appeared more often. It was sweater weather once again. 

On a cool Saturday morning in the middle of March, Astoria had just finished her Transfiguration essay and was about to start her star chart for Divination when someone cleared their throat from behind her. Turning around, Astoria saw it was Draco. 

To have him standing before her again was a weird feeling. She'd spent so many months watching him out of the corner of her eye - daring him to look back at her or acknowledge her presence. Of course, he never did. He'd respected Astoria's wishes, and one part of her hated him for it. 

"Why are you here?" she said, motioning towards the other empty tables in the Slytherin common room. 

"I'm here to beg for your forgiveness," he said sarcastically. Then, after a slight pause, "I need help with the Transfiguration assignment." 

"No you don't," the girl said irritably. "You're second in our grade next to Granger. You're just too lazy and want to copy -"

"I understand the gist of it, Astoria. Now, if you'll just let me see it -" 

"No!" 

"- I'll have enough free time to walk around with you. " 

Astoria looked at him, momentarily stunned. "No," she said finally. "Academic dishonesty is wrong, Draco. You could do it a thousand times better than me anyway." 

"I could," he said, looking impatient. "Now pack up your things and let's go." 

°

"Where are we even going?" Astoria said, crossing her arms and looking longingly back towards the stairs that led to the dungeons and Slytherin dormitories. "It's cold out. I didn't even bring a jacket." 

"It's not that cold, you're just annoyingly sensitive." 

"You're such a gentleman," she spat, looking away from him. Why did she even agree to this? Not that he didn't give her much choice. Still...

"I never said I was a gentleman," Draco pointed out, ignoring the seething girl next to him. He stretched his arms. "Pretty view, isn't it?" They were standing next to the Great Lake, and Astoria had to admit that it was a nice view, even on a cold March day. 

"Why are you doing this?" she asked finally. 

"Doing what?" he asked innocently, staring out at the lake.

So he was going to make her elaborate. Prat. "Why did you make me walk with you when you know I will never trust you nor like you again?" 

He turned and faced her. "I don't believe that." 

"Believe what?" 

"Believe that you will never love nor trust me again." 

"I never loved you," Astoria said bitterly. 

"You liked me. You trusted me. You were happy." 

She turned away from him. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Too late. It's been three months, Astoria. Time for you to move on." 

"Oh, you're giving me your blessing to date other boys? Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need your permission to do anything." Her confidence was wavering. What the hell was Malfoy doing? 

"I cheated on you," he said calmly. 

"Damn right you did." 

"I regret that." 

"If this is one of your games, Malfoy -" the girl said, starting to walk away. 

"It's not. I was a prat and I'm sorry." 

She stopped and looked back at him for a second, something like pity in her eyes. "Too little, too late."