BLISSFUL OBLIVION
An A-Z series of Drastoria one-shotsby EMPG22HoPe
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Auror Draco Malfoy follows a lead on former classmate and Death Eater associate, Theodore Nott. He tags along with him Auror trainee Astoria Greengrass, who had always been such a stick up his ass, until she wasn't.
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AUROR
Nobody in their right mind would have ever considered making Draco Malfoy an Auror. It came as a surprise to Draco that there hadn't been any uprisings on his ascend to be one of the most highly-trained Aurors in the Ministry of Magic. While there were several protests among his fellow Aurors as well as several ministry officers, anyone with a pair of eyes couldn't deny Draco's training statistics after achieving his training for three years. If they were being honest, and simply preyed on whispers, he might have been as good as Potter.
But that's not what Draco was worrying about now.
He had been an Auror for no less than six months at the ripe age of twenty one when he'd been assigned to take on a junior trainee by the name of Astoria Greengrass. Apparently, any newly assigned Auror had been given the unforgiving task of tagging along a junior trainee to help with their "exposure", whatever that meant to Draco.
And junior trainee Astoria Greengrass had been nothing but a stick up his ass since he first met her.
Astoria had many opinions, was always chatty and never did shut up about spewing facts that mattered little to any situation at hand. She was miniature and looked to be the underdog out of all the trainees. If she wasn't so annoyingly pretty (her green eyes have always quite taken him) and rather intelligent, he would have chucked her up to Potter and switched up with whichever appraising bloke that felt lucky enough to be under the care of the "Chosen One". Alas, he kept her around despite how prodding the young Greengrass was.
After having Astoria under his wing for an entire month—which was, suffice to say, quite the nightmare—Draco was finally sent out on the field to follow a lead on Theodore Nott and his possession of a dark artifact that could possibly "revive the Dark Lord". While Draco tried to smash the rumors or the rather impervious case file that literally does state so, he found it difficult to swallow the opportunity of having the lead when it was so connected to the nose-less bastard that made his and his family's lives a living hell.
But that seemed to matter little to Astoria, for when she had overheard Head Auror Roger Davies assign Draco the task; she ended up bursting in fits of sheer delight. The past month for either of them had been nothing but sitting about Draco's desk, sifting through paperwork. Sometimes, they went to the gym to follow up on Astoria's defensive spells which were—as much as he hated to admit it—far more superior than any of her fellow trainees. But now that it meant being on the field, Draco was already dreading the opportunity even before Davies could have even considered giving Draco the task.
"Oh, finally! I mean, I love paperwork as much as the next Ravenclaw, but it's drafty in that office. I knew you'd be given field work soon enough!" Astoria babbled on aimlessly, clutching her trainee robes of purple closer to her as she and Draco exited onto the cold, winter streets of London that early December. "I've always been so curious as to why Head Auror Davies kept you on desk duty for an entire month, given your Auror statistics but—"
"Greengrass, if you know what's good for you, I suggest you clip that little mouth of yours shut." Draco told her off impatiently as he buttoned his Auror robes, grey eyes scanning the perimeter of the streets they had just entered after taking the visitor's exit by the red phone booth.
Their location on the lead was far from broomsticks and floo networks, and so they had to resort to apparating from outside the Ministry.
"All I'm saying is that I'm happy for you." Astoria went on nonetheless as she tied her brunette locks up into a messy bun. Draco graced her a curious look and was taken aback by her rather kind smile. That smile always did set him off, but in a good sort of way. No one looked at him like that in three years except Astoria. Somehow, she seemed to be the only one that wasn't bothered, and moreover didn't give a bloody damn about the faded Dark Mark on his forearm.
Realizing the look on Draco's face, Astoria's cheeks flushed considerably; looking very flustered as she throttled on, "For me, too, of course! I mean, the exposure to field work is imperative to my training. Not just, you know, you."
Draco smirked at her in amusement before offering his arm. "The less cheeky you are, the better, Greengrass."
"It's Astoria." Astoria huffed rather haughtily as she took his offered arm, readying herself for apparition. "You'd do well to learn my name. It's been a month."
Draco's reply to her haughty proclamation was the sudden apparition he had done that followed. After being sucked into blinding colors and shifting images, they finally landed before a beaten-down household on Mermaid Street in Rye. The surrounding village was quiet in the morning, save for the sound of the distant farmer's market a couple of blocks away. Every house seemed as white as pearl with shapely wooden dressings and red brick rooftops.
The house they stood before was just that, only graying and looking as though it had not been touched or renovated for so long. Its windows were dusty and several of them were either cracked or had peering holes on the sides. The wooden door before them was cracked open and swinging, as though someone had recently just entered the premises.
"Wand out, Greengrass," Draco ordered as he brandished his new Blackthorn wand.
Astoria looked as though she was about to open her mouth to complain about the sudden side-apparition but had decided otherwise when she saw the ajar wooden door. She slipped her Rosewood wand from her pocket and held it aloft.
Draco walked cautiously towards the door before kicking it aside loudly before announcing their arrival. "Auror from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! Show yourself, Nott!"
There was nothing but the sound of creaking floorboards, although Draco had simply assumed it was due to how old and beaten down the house looked. The furniture in the small living room had been upturned, looking as though a fight had ensued there before. Morning sun bled through the cracked windows, giving the room its only source of light. There was a small staircase that led to the second floor to their right beside the wall that lined empty dust-covered frames.
"Homenum Revelio." Astoria said as she pointed her wand at the dismantled living room.
Nothing happened.
"He's not here. He must have dashed when he heard our apparition pop." Astoria sighed as she stepped into the living room, checking under the overturned coffee table and couch. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"I'm positive," Draco grunted dismissively as he shifted through broken shards of a vase at the foot of the stairs' steps. "Stay down here. I'm going to look around upstairs."
"What?" Astoria whirled around and glared at him. "You can't leave me here! What if Nott shows up?"
"Then you know how to stun him, I presume." Draco drawled on sarcastically as he began to take the first steps upwards. "Unless you want to come up with me and be attacked by whatever's up there."
"Like bloody hell I want to be up Nott's face!" Astoria shrieked as she started following Draco up the stairs. "I'm coming with you! I'd take being attacked by whatever's up there than seeing him. What if you need back up? Who's going to save your pretty blond head up there?"
Draco rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his amusement as he entered the second floor.
It affronted him how the second floor seemed to be nothing more than some basic attic. Boxes and cabinets were strewn across the room either exposed or under dusting folding of white cloth. There were bookshelves containing books of dark magic, some hardly even presented in the Restricted Section at Hogwarts. Only the smallest of window shed some light from outside onto the dingy attic.
"What exactly are we looking for? What kind of dark artifact do we need that the Ministry is so keen on getting their hands on?" Astoria asked as she went straight for the books. Nerd. "I've read Nott's case file. I know dark artifacts are practically illegal, but what's so bad about this one that they want his head on the chopping block once he's caught?"
"Merlin, you're never going to shut up unless I tell you, are you?" Draco asked in exasperation, turning his back on her before sifting through boxes of trinkets: watches, necklaces, snuffboxes.
"No, I'm not." Astoria answered firmly. "I may be a junior trainee, but I'm on the field this very moment and I deserve to at least know what we're trying to look for other than Nott."
Draco tossed back a silver wig into one of the boxes before turning to face Astoria, who had been reading through a book furtively. "Do you really want to know?"
Astoria looked up at him attentively and nodded, trying to keep her mouth shut for once as she waited with bathed breath.
"Theodore Nott is believed to be in possession of a time-turner." Draco said, crossing his arms on his chest.
Shock crossed Astoria's features as she slowly shut the book she held, as if it were nothing compared to the revelation of Draco's reveal. "A-a time-turner? But... but those are... Theodore Nott... he could..."
"Exactly." Draco finished for her, already knowing that she was going to say that Nott would try to use it to bring Voldemort back. He tried his best to look stoic, but his brows furrowed in worry as memories of the war flashed in his mind. They never were pleasant, the memories. It seemed a haunting karma to him despite all the "good" that he's been trying to do for the past three years, putting himself in service to the Ministry.
Astoria seemed to have caught the look on his face because her look of terror softened into concern. He always hated the pity-look Astoria often gave him when talk of the war or Voldemort came to light. She sees him as sort of victim and feels sorry for him, which was the last thing he wanted from her. He wanted her to see him as this unified, put-together man who finally had everything in place now that he held a good position in the Ministry. Not some boy who was still damaged and haunted by the war—even though that's exactly what he still was.
To his relief, Astoria didn't pester him with questions like most of the other Aurors did. Instead, she brushed past it in the hopes of saving him the trouble of having to explain himself.
"Well, we ought to find him, then. Nobody wants... him back." Astoria went, her fingers scratching the book's spine distractedly before putting it back on the shelf. Draco regarded her with a wary nod before returning to some of the unopened boxes.
They were quiet for the briefest of moments when Astoria spoke again.
"Why did you decide to become an Auror?"
That was the first question the Head Auror asked him during his interview three years ago. Draco simply replied with the generic "I want to help make the wizarding world a better place", a better shot at redemption in regaining respect from the wizarding community. But he had a deeper, more thoughtful reason than that. Somehow, he found that telling Astoria—who held little to no judgment in those bright green eyes of hers—was compelling.
"It's because I owe it to them," Draco answered shakily, trying his best not to erupt with unwanted emotions in the middle of a house raid. He had his back to Astoria and was all the more grateful for it. "I owe it to the Fallen Fifty, to the families I never meant to hurt, to the people's lives I've... I've ruined. I couldn't protect them then... I wish I could have... but I have the opportunity to protect them from anything else now, even though I know that it's too late for most of them."
Draco hadn't realized that his body was shuddering as tears threatened to fall from his grey eyes. He held the tears back, inhaling sharply in the hopes of ridding all the memories, all the horrible things he was forced to do in the war for the sake of keeping his family alive. The nightmares he has every night were no kinder than the ones that come in flashing colors as though willing to eat him alive.
Suddenly, the warmth of a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He turned sharply to find Astoria holding onto him, her green eyes searching the terrified grey ones that he possessed. There was a kind of softness to her gaze that made him feel undeserving to be looked at in that way. He was no hero then, and he was no hero now—but he didn't need to be one. He just needed to prove that he wasn't completely irredeemable for someone who became a Death Eater.
"I think you're doing well on that so far." Astoria praised him with a gentle laugh. "That's more than anyone could have possibly ever done."
Astoria's gentle hand reached up to cup his cheek, and for a moment, he felt like shoving it off until he received the warmth of her touch. Feeling his worries ebb; he leaned into her touch for a fraction of a moment. He didn't know what was causing this momentary lapse of strength, his sudden need to feel human—but despite a dreadful month with Astoria, she didn't seem such an annoying pain in his ass after all.
Before he could say his piece, he caught the sudden shift of her gentle look to sheer panic as the warmth of her hand quickly disappeared and a bright red light emitted from the tip of Astoria's wand.
The spell shot towards his back, and Draco whirled to find blasted cabinets as the room filled with dust and smoke all of a sudden.
"Astoria!" Draco called out amongst the scampering footsteps that circled the room. He was completely blind to the dark smoke and wretched at the dust that he unexpectedly inhaled.
There was a grunt, a scuffle, and then another red spell shot towards the window. The window shattered loudly as glass fell on flecks right next to Draco. When the dust slowly cleared, he finally had time to react when he saw Theodore Nott dueling Astoria. Non-verbal spells shot back and forth between the two, neither even noticing that Draco was there.
Draco raised his wand and shot a Knockback Jinx at Nott. But Nott seemed to have seen through his peripheral because he easily blocked the spell whilst trying to avoid Astoria's hexes.
Nott finally disarmed Astoria in the midst of her momentary glance at Draco. Astoria's wand flew into Nott's hand before the double-armed Slytherin pointed both his and Astoria's wand at either of them.
"Now, now, Draco, let's just... all... calm... down..." Nott spoke slowly as if speaking to a child, causing Draco to be on edge. Draco's former classmate was dressed in those repulsive Death Eater robes. No doubt the robes of his father, Nott Sr. before the man had been chucked into a lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban.
"Like hell—" Draco didn't have time to finish as he sent a wordless Petrificus Totalus to Nott, to which the man had blocked so easily. It took Draco aback how Nott managed to block his spell with his wand while at the same time casting another spell towards Astoria that unwillingly slid her towards Nott.
Nott now held Astoria in a vice-like grip, his arm that held Astoria's wand wound around Astoria's neck. Astoria looked horror-stricken while simultaneously trying to struggle away from Nott's grip. His grip must be so damning that it was threatening to suffocate her as she scratched helplessly against his arm.
"One more spell and your girlfriend gets it, Malfoy!" Nott warned fleetingly, pointing his wand threateningly at Astoria's head, causing Draco to flinch. "Well, well, if it isn't Auror Draco Malfoy. You've become quite a puppet of the Ministry now. A shame, really. The things we could do together, Draco. We're gathering up all the old Death Eaters, see, or what's left of them anyway."
Suddenly, the light caught something that glimmered on Nott's neck. The time turner swung distinctively against the sun's light that bled from the small window.
"Release her, Nott. This is between you and me." Draco said through gritted teeth, trying to find an opening at Nott—but even as he searched, it would be too risky because of his proximity to Astoria, who could get caught in the crossfire. "If you hand yourself over to the Ministry now, you can be given pardon—"
"Fuck that!" Nott screeched at him, causing Astoria to whimper at his loud voice. "Fuck the Ministry and their disgusting muggle and mudblood loving scum! There will always be one way and that is the way of the Dark Lord—"
Draco didn't have much time to listen to Nott go on about his evil monologue. He was too focused on Astoria who was struggling in Nott's hold. Only when he finally caught her gaze did he give her that knowing look. It was one of the more elaborate practices they've had at the Auror gym during that one month of having Astoria around. A flick of his left brow and a look upwards was a signal, to which Astoria nodded in effort.
"—if you come with us, you can truly restore the Malfoy name." came at last the end of Nott's notorious speech. Astoria was waiting on the chance while Nott was still incapacitated. There was little to no fear in her green eyes now, despite the wand pointed at her.
"Sorry, Nott," Draco spat distastefully, a slight smirk curving his lips. "But the one thing the Dark Lord taught me is to never let your fucking guard down."
"What—" Nott started but couldn't spell out the next words because Astoria, whose hands were completely free, snatched her wand from Nott's grasp before elbowing him low enough to hit right at his crotch. A blood curling cry escaped Nott's lips as his hold on Astoria loosened.
Astoria's hands flailed at Nott and Draco heard the snap of a metal as Astoria held in her hand the time-turner.
On his knees, Nott fired a spell straight towards Draco. Draco blocked it only to realize that Nott had created Fiendfyre than some hex or jinx. A burst of flaming orange erupted from Nott's wand before it formed into a sentient viper. It curled and moved dangerously towards Draco. In a fit of panic, he dodged the assault only to bump into Astoria.
As Nott attempted to recover, Draco attempted to remember the charm that was used to get rid of Fiendfyre. But before he could even come close to remembering his seventh year Charms class, he had been knocked onto the ground by a heavy weight.
Draco's vision blurred after hitting his head too hard against the wooden floor and was dumbstruck to find Nott holding him down, wand pointing dangerously against Draco's neck. He could feel the trickle of blood down the back of his head, but paid little attention to it.
"Flamma Perdere!" came Astoria's cry as the heat of the room slowly dispersed.
Before Nott could turn around to handle Astoria, there was a great smacking and the sound of a nose breaking on top of him. Nott wobbled weakly before falling face-first right next to Draco. Draco shoved Nott off him and tried to stand up, his legs like jell-o as he attempted to stay upright. His vision was a lot clearer now as the last remaining flames of the Fiendfyre disappeared into an unshaped ball of fire and into nothing.
Astoria held Draco's other side to help him upright, panic set in her voice as she tried to meet his gaze. "Draco, Draco, are you okay?"
"Did you punch him?" Draco asked weakly, his head still swimming as his insides gurgled. He felt like vomiting.
"Well, yes, but—" Astoria started but he didn't hear the rest of it because his vision darkened at last before falling into a heap of weak limbs into Astoria's arms.
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Draco woke up to the sound of twittering birds and the smell of wretchedly brewed potions. His entire body felt like lead, holding him down further on the bed on which he laid on. Grey eyes scanned the room furtively only to find himself in one of those rooms in St. Mungo's. It gave him some relief that he was offered a private room, for he didn't know how much his pride could handle it if he were surrounded by other patients.
There was suddenly the sound of conversing on the door adjacent to the left of his bed. As he tried to pull his upper body up, biting back him tongue to hold his painful scream, the door to his room opened to reveal a Healer. He recognized the face of Hannah Abbott as she sported white Healer robes. Following on her tail was Astoria, who jumped in surprise—still in her purple trainee robes—before barreling into the room.
Draco was hit with a bone-crushing hug by Astoria that had left him breathless for about five seconds before Healer Abbott decided to pull her away.
Astoria cried tearfully as she wiped off her tears. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"We all are, Ms. Greengrass." Hannah nodded as she checked the clipboard attached to the end of Draco's bed. "Auror Malfoy, your vitals have been excellent in the last two hours and we hope to keep it that way. You suffered a head injury and several broken bones, but you should be fine in three days' time as long as you don't refute to taking your potions of four every three hours."
"That won't be a problem," Draco replied dryly, feeling his chest convulse painfully. How many ribs had he broken? Then again, it was nothing compared to his second year in Auror training when he had to battle a bloody Firecrab. "And Nott? Was he apprehended?"
Healer Abbott pursed her lips before inclining her head to Astoria. "I think this is Auror business I ought not to be around."
Astoria nodded at Healer Abbott, thanked her gratefully before the healer finally left the room.
"When I knocked Nott off and you were unconscious, everything became a blur. Another Death Eater came in. Avery, I think." Astoria started to explain, shifting her gaze elsewhere; suddenly finding the potion bottles on his bedside table interesting. "I fought him off, but he was too strong. He knocked me out and the time-turner slipped from my grasp. He took it and apparated away with Nott. I'm sorry."
Draco blew out a tired sigh before looking up at her. "You did what you could. I can't dock your points off that."
Astoria shook her head guiltily. "I wasn't strong enough. Nott got away with the time-turner! I'm going to be the laughing stock of year two. They'll... they'll..."
"Did you report to Davies about it already?" Draco asked with a quirk of a brow.
"No, not yet. I apparated us here as soon as Nott and Avery left." Astoria explained, biting her bottom lip nervously as she shook her head. "But I'm so stupid—"
"You say that again and I'll chuck you to Weasley to be your mentor, Greengrass." Draco grunted, sounding more serious now. "And trust me, he's a bumbling fool that you'll learn little from."
Astoria opened her mouth to protest but decided otherwise. At least she was starting to learn when to keep things to herself.
"How are you feeling?" Astoria asked cautiously as she took to sit on the side of his bed, green eyes searching his grey ones as if she would find the answer there instead. "Chest? Head?"
"I feel like I'm suffocating and my head's pounding, but I've received far worse than some broken ribs and a scorching headache." Draco tried to laugh, only to find that a mistake as it made his abdomen crunch up in agonizing pain. He cleared his throat before looking Astoria over. "You? How's your neck?"
"You ought to worry more about my wand hand than my neck," Astoria laughed in amusement as she lifted her bandaged hand. "Nott's skull is as thick as they get. I'm surprised my hand hadn't fallen off when I punched him square in the bloody nose."
Draco decided for a humorous smirk this time. "You had a wand on you. Using your fists on a situation like that is—"
"Too muggle, I know." Astoria rolled her eyes playfully. "But that too muggle notion just saved both our lives. Instinct kicked in. You have no idea how many boys I had to punch in Auror training just to prove my bloody point that they shouldn't underestimate me just because I'm a woman."
"I never doubted you for a minute." Draco said in amusement.
There was a small, comfortable silence that settled between them; save for the more distinctive noise of patients and healers outside his room. But Astoria was never quite used to silence, regardless of its atmosphere, so she spoke again.
"I'm glad you taught me that signal. The eyebrow and look up one." Astoria smiled softly this time, meeting his gaze. "We make a great team, don't we?"
"I suppose, yeah," Draco chuckled lowly this time, not even caring that it hurt his ribs. "You've got spunk, Greengrass. I can live with that."
Astoria giggled before shaking her head and placing a hand on top of Draco's. "Hey. That thing you said about being an Auror, the reason behind it..."
"Astoria—"
"My lips are sealed." Astoria interrupted him, but her words held their meaning. She offered him one of those bright smiles that seemed to make most of his stressful days just a tad bit brighter. "You're very brave, Draco."
"Doubtful." Draco grunted but he smirked, nonetheless.
"You are." Astoria insisted gently but with a firm touch, and nothing seemed to change her mind once she's made it up. "For a former Death Eater... you're not so bad."
"And for a miniature junior trainee..." Draco spat back playfully with a smirk. His heart swelled all of a sudden at her string of beautiful, pealing giggles. "You're not so bad yourself."
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A/N: That was letter "A" of Z in my collection of one-shots. You can expect many AU's of the sorts and many different versions of Draco and Astoria in the recurring chapters, so be sure to stay tuned for that! This one was a bit longer than I originally expected, but I hope it was well enough. Please favorite/follow the story if you liked it and want to receive more updates on the next chapters. I would love to hear what you thought of it by sounding off your comments in the reviews!
This collection will have infrequent updates compared to "If I Lose Myself", but it's definitely a work in progress. I hope you guys enjoyed!
MDSummers