Astoria → Draco Malfoy

CHAPTER SEVEN

Daphne smiled, Astoria was almost jealous, her task seemed far easier than those Professor Slughorn had given to Blaise, Theo and Pansy. All Daphne had to do was traipse around the castle. She handed in her wand as she took the list and made her way out of the dungeons, Astoria could have even sworn she had a spring in her step.

"Finally, Miss Greengrass, you will be alphabetising all of the textbooks in the cupboard at the front of the classroom and Mr Malfoy you will be organising the store cupboard- I would like it cleaned, jars refilled and looking spotless!"

Astoria exchanged a disinterested look with Draco as they handed in their wands and went their separate ways. Alphabetising was at least better than scrubbing cauldrons, she thought to herself as she began to take every single book off of the shelf. Only she had removed all of the textbooks did Astoria realise how long this task would truly take her.

She ran her hands across the spines of the books. "Magical Drafts and Potions, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Advanced Potion-Making..." She recalled when those had been her required textbooks for Potions all those years ago, how she had changed since then.

Once she had sorted the textbooks into piles, she wiped down the shelving unit, something she wished she could have used her wand for. As she went to return the cloth she had used, she realised how empty the Potions Classroom was; Daphne had come and gone, Blaise and Theo were no longer at their desk. Only Pansy remained in her sight, sat lazily on the floor merely staring at the cauldrons. "I'm done!" She exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, "I cannot and will not do anymore!" Professor Slughorn gave her a weak nod and with that, she sprinted out of the room.

Astoria turned back to her pile of books and began lifting them individually into the cupboard, she knew it would take longer this way, but if it was done properly, it wouldn't need doing any time again soon.

"Miss Greengrass, Mr Malfoy, I'm afraid I have a meeting to attend if I come back and find that you have not completed your tasks you will be required to return tomorrow. Do not make me wish I hadn't trusted you to be alone here." He informed them before making his way out of the classroom.

When Astoria finally finished arranging the shelf, she was shattered. Her whole body simply ached. She wanted nothing more than a steaming hot bath, preferably one taken in the Prefects Bathroom, that was where the luxury was. It didn't matter that she wasn't a Prefect, nobody would ever dare to intrude on the bathroom, especially if a certain someone let slip that Moaning Myrtle happened to be residing there.

Astoria looked around the empty classroom, "Draco are you done yet?" She didn't think it would be right to leave him here alone, it would make her feel better if they at least left together. When she got no response, she made her way towards the store cupboard, the door was already ajar and through the small gap, she could see Draco sat on the floor.

"Need any help?" Her voice startled him, causing him to jump before scrambling to his feet.

"Merlin, I thought you were Slughorn!"

She smiled at him. "Nope, just me." She closed the door behind her and made her way into the store cupboard. "It's much bigger than I thought it was." From the outside, it looked like the size of any wardrobe but once inside, it could have been a room of its own.

"That's what's been taking me so long, it's such a mess and there's so much of it!"

Astoria perked up, she enjoyed a challenge, and this would certainly be one. "Right, let's get started then shall we!"

It took the pair of them at least another hour to organise the cupboard to Astoria's standards, although Draco had claimed they were done at least three times, she knew he was mistaken. As Astoria looked around it was almost unrecognisable, every single jar had been cleaned, labelled and returned to the correct shelf, the lights had been dusted so everything in the room could finally be seen. "Now I would say that is a job well done, not to toot my own horn or anything!"

Draco glanced at the shelves, "I suppose it is an improvement."

"Right let's go and get something to eat!" She grasped hold of the door handle, "I am starving!" But when she pressed down, the door didn't open, instead, she went flying into the door. She tried again, "it's locked."

"No, it isn't," Draco stated, gently shoving her out of the way and making his attempt, but he too was unsuccessful.

"And Slughorn made us leave our wands with him! I should have known something like this would happen! Merlin, it can't be" Astoria dropped to the floor slowly, leaning her head against one of the low hanging shelves. "Oh, Merlin. I can't be trapped, Draco I don't like enclosed spaces, I can't, I-I..."

But Draco was barely paying attention to her, he too had fallen to the floor and hung his head in his knees. Astoria felt as though she was living her nightmare, but she knew Draco was living his too. "It's okay." She wasn't sure if she was telling herself or reassuring herself, "we are okay." She took a deep breath, then another, then another.

She slid over across the floor towards Draco, "Draco..." she whispered. "Can you hear me? You need to breathe with me okay." He wasn't responding, bust Astoria couldn't simply sit in the silence and do nothing if she wasn't active her mind was snap. "Breathe in." She counted to five in her head, "now hold it," she counted again, "now we breathe out. Okay, and again." She repeated the process six more times before Draco spoke.

He didn't lift his head, it remained buried in his knees, but Astoria could just about make out what he was saying., "I had no choice." He didn't have to make it clear to her what he was referring to.

"I know," she took his hand in hers, "I know."