Saturday, November 18, 2017
"Draco Lucius Abraxas Malfoy!"
Draco winced. Attempting to dredge up a smile, he turned. "Tori."
"Don't think nicknames will work on me just now, Draco. Have you seen our son lately?"
"Er, Scorpius? Why? What's he done?" Draco frowned. It wasn't like Scorpius to get in trouble, and he'd seemed quite happy the last time he'd -
Astoria rolled her eyes. "Yes, Scorpius. Do we have any other sons, Draco? And he's not done anything - he just said he hasn't really seen you in weeks. Is that true?"
"Of course it's not true! I just saw him..." Draco frowned. When had he last seen Scorpius?
Astoria rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought." Her expression turned sympathetic as she studied him. "Draco? Darling? What is it?"
"Nothing. It's nothing, really."
She grabbed his arm, tugging him down the corridor to a small alcove he hadn't known existed. She hopped up on the wide window ledge, patting the stones beside her. "Have a seat. Come on; I don't bite."
He sighed. He knew that tone of voice. If he didn't do as she said, there'd be hell to pay later. Honestly. She was worse than Pansy'd ever been. "Oh, all right," he said, hopping up beside her. She scooted over a bit to make room for him, then tugged his head down to her shoulder.
He let her, groaning softly as her fingers loosened the tie that held his hair back and then began carding gently through the strands. He'd always loved it when she did that, and hated how it made him putty in her hands - just as it had when Pansy'd done it.
"What happened, Draco?" she asked, and he heard only genuine concern in her voice. "Scorpius said you've been distant, ever since the duel." She paused. "He didn't recognize that spell you know. But I do. Why did you let him do that to you?"
Draco sighed, lifting his shoulders in a weary shrug. "Don't you think that if I knew that, I'd have been able to prevent it? It's Potter, Tori. Have I ever needed any more reason than that? It's always been Potter."
She squeezed his shoulder. "I know."
They sat in silence for a bit, and Draco allowed the rhythmic strokes of her fingers to sooth him, lull him into a half-doze.
"Why did you pull away?" she asked suddenly, startling him. "I thought - "
"Yeah, well, so did I," he said bitterly. "I guess he wasn't all that sincere." He paused, feeling guilty. "Well, no, I suppose that's not exactly true."
She turned abruptly, dislodging his head from her shoulder, so she could look into his eyes. "Draco. What did you do? Did he really reject you, or did you make assumptions, as usual, and get all huffy over a misunderstanding?"
Draco scowled. "I do not 'get all huffy.'" He felt his lower lip jut out, and was quite unable to prevent it.
Astoria giggled. "Yes you do, darling. I was married to you for nearly two decades, remember? Now, are you going to tell me what happened? Or am I going to have to drag you out of here by your ear and ask him myself?"
He sat bolt upright, staring at her. "You wouldn't!"
"I would."
She would. The woman would be the death of him. "I may have made a few assumptions, Tori," he said stiffly, "but I assure you they were all quite reasonable."
She snorted. "Of course they were. Now. What happened?"
Draco buried his face in her shoulder, hiding from her too-direct gaze. "I - I may have told him about the memories I took from him. About what we were to one another." He felt her shoulder tense beneath his cheek. He'd never even told her about that. Even when, with their duty to their families satisfied, they'd become friends, it had been something he'd kept for himself. His closely guarded secret that he'd take to his grave. He snorted. And look how well that had turned out.
"We were in the hospital wing, and I was under the influence of some pretty gnarly pain potions, after he cut me open and then he and Pomfrey stitched me up again, and his back was turned but... but he was far too tense to be anything but awake." His voice got steadily quieter, until he was practically whispering and she had to lean closer to hear. "He didn't respond, and I fell asleep before I'd finished talking, I think - things got a little fuzzy - and when I woke up he was gone."
"What did he say?" she asked softly.
He frowned. "When?"
"Why, the next time you spoke." She pulled away again, trying to catch his eyes. "Darling, you did speak to him, after that?"
He avoided her gaze, shrugging helplessly. Of course he hadn't spoken to him after that. Anyway, it's not like they'd really seen one another. "He's been avoiding me," he said miserably, and he knew how childish he sounded.
Astoria sighed. "Oh, Draco." She patted his head comfortingly, and he leaned into the touch, drawing what comfort he could from it. It was times like these that he missed his mother the most.
---
After a while, Astoria pulled him to his feet. "Come on, Draco. Lets go for a walk. It's a lovely day outside."
"Tori - "
"I'm not taking no for an answer, Draco. Now. We're going for a nice long walk. In fact, we're going to walk to Hogsmeade, and I'm going to show you around the house. It's quite lovely, and the girls and I get on fabulously."
"But I - "
"And then," she said, talking blithely over him, "you're going to help me make dinner, and we're going to have a pleasant evening. Scorpius and his friends are coming, too. It'll be fun - you'll see."
It did sound better than another boring dinner in the Great Hall, and a day spent brooding in his rooms. Only... "Scorpius and his friends."
"Yes," Astoria said, twisting the empty spot on her finger where her wedding band had once lain.
Draco scowled. That meant Al would be there - not that Scorpius ever went anywhere without Al, these days - which meant... "What about Potter?"
Astoria evaded his gaze. "What about him?"
"Is Potter coming to your little shindig, too?"
"I - maybe." She sighed. "Ginny's asking him."
Draco snorted. "Telling him, you mean. I don't think I can - "
Astoria glared at him. "You can, Draco, and you will. You don't have to speak to him - don't even have to look at him - but your son is feeling neglected and wants you to come." She softened her tone. "I want you to come. Believe it or not, darling, I miss your company. I got rather used to it, I'm afraid. I love the girls to death, but..."
Draco groaned. "Please don't ask me that, Tori!"
"Please, Draco."
He closed his eyes. He'd never been able to deny her. Not when she wanted something as badly as she did now. "Fine. Just - let me grab my cloak."
She brightened, falling into step beside him. "Ooh, you can show me your rooms, while we're at it. I've always wondered what the professors' rooms were like, here."
He smiled as she slipped her tiny hand into his. "It's just a room, Tori. Nothing special. Honestly, I almost prefer the dorms."
He led her back to his rooms anyway, letting her familiar chatter wash over him, easing some of the ache of loneliness of the past few weeks. Maybe she was right. Maybe it would be OK, after all.