The first thing Draco Malfoy had noticed about Astoria Greengrass were her eyes.
Her green eyes.
If truth be told, he had never once taken notice of her during his days in Hogwarts. He was, in fact, shocked that she existed at all when he was introduced to the attractive brunette at one of the Greengrass' tiresome manor parties.
Daphne had a little sister? That was certainly news to him.
She'd smiled at him, her eyes never leaving his as they politely shook hands. He was mesmerized, wanting to say something - anything, but discovered himself quite speechless.
She moved away, and for the rest of the evening, he found himself searching out those pretty green eyes which stirred something in him.
She had come into his life when he was at an all time low, to the point where his mother feared he was suffering from depression.
He suppose he had been. His search for Harri was getting him nowhere, and a stern talk from Blaise made him realise that if he ever did find the woman who'd always had his heart, then it was unlikely she'd ever truly give him hers.
No, because Fred Weasley had that: buried deep with him six feet underground. Untouchable.
"Face it, man," Blaise said over a pint in the Leaky Cauldron, "Potter doesn't want to be found, and she doesn't want you. You need to get over her, and preferably under someone else."
So he did just that.
Astoria Greengrass, although timid in conversation, was enthusiastic between the sheets. It took Draco by pleasant surprise, especially that first night when she led him up to her room in the middle of the Greengrass' houseparty and loudly rode his brains out.
Her green eyes had been full of desire, looking at him as though she never wanted anyone else in the world but him.
"I've always fantasized about you," she confessed afterwards as they lay panting together tangled in her sheets. "I often thought about what it would be like to ride the Slytherin Prince. I had such a crush on you at school. I still do."
"Really?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Really," she confirmed, her green eyes sparkling into his.
He was so flattered that he went down on her there and then, making sure she was twice satisfied, and therefore likely to come back for more.
And sure enough, the very next day she'd boldly called on him and asked him out for a coffee. It was that very first date when Draco had discovered she was a vegan. But rather than turn his nose up at this, he pretended to show an interest, and was rewarded with a blow job round the back of the coffee shop by the dustbins.
Astoria clearly had no qualms about drinking his milk.
Yes, she was an enthusiastic lover, and Draco really liked sex, especially with someone who was so desperate to please him and looked at him with besotted green eyes.
And how he loved those green eyes, and long, thick, raven hair which he would often find himself running his fingers through, recalling how Harri's used to smell like coconut.
However, the first time Astoria said she loved him, after just a week together, he found he couldn't say it back.
Maybe he just needed time. He hadn't, afterall, realised he was in love with Harri at first. In fact, he used to think of her as more of a sister figure. But then he was pretty sure that brothers don't fantasise about their sisters when dealing with a morning glory in the shower.
Or maybe they did? Who knows what twisted thoughts went on in people's minds.
And then when Harri had started dating Fred Weasley, he could barely contain the jealously inside him, trying his best to fuck it out of his system by shagging as many girls as he could. But none of them were Harri - not even close.
When she finally fell into his bed in sixth year, he couldn't believe his luck. The one thing he had dreamt about for so long had come true.
But then everything went to shit in spectacular fashion. Obliviating it from her mind had been so painful, but not as painful as seeing the heartache in her eyes caused by Fred fucking Weasley. Even that one time when she was in bed with him, he could see it. And all he had wanted was for Harri to look at him and not wish he were someone else.
However, when Astoria looked at him, Draco saw a woman who could love him with her whole heart and not just some broken pieces of it.
So, after just two weeks of dating and sex, he proposed to her, confident she would say yes.
"Oh Dray, I love you!" Astoria declared as he slipped the giant rock onto her finger.
He went to say it back, but found the words caught in his throat again. Instead, he hugged her to him, and said that his mother would be pleased.
He was a selfish, insecure man, he knew.
But does he not deserve to be loved in the way that he has always loved Harri?
And then, a week after they got engaged, Draco received a letter from the private detective he had hired to find Harri.
He had told himself, as he pocketed the business card containing the address of the strip club, that he was just going to check on her. He wouldn't even let her know he was there.
It was important to him to know that she was okay. Nothing more.
But the moment he saw her walk out onto that stage, every single feeling and desire he'd ever had for her came flooding to the surface, his heart racing solely for her.
And he knew then, that he could never let her go again, that he'd fight tooth and nail to keep her by his side, even though when he looked into her green eyes he could still see it:
A longing for a man who wasn't ever him.
*****