what we truly want /ASTORIA

[DRACO MALFOY]

It was becoming late in the night, and Draco Malfoy had promised a certain Slytherin that he'd meet her at the Lake. At the time he had made the promise, Draco had been swamped in his homework while Pansy Parkinson draped her arms around his shoulders and arms, attempting without success to distract Draco from his work. Draco was used to Pansy's obsession, her stalking nature. Her constant desire for attention from Draco. He rolled his eyes and merely swatted her away, and still she droned on and on endlessly about her problems with being 'more beautiful and talented' than the other female students in both Slytherin and in Hogwarts itself. More beautiful than Millicent Bulstrode? Now that Draco agreed with. But she also compared herself to Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, and even Geneva Bole, who was a year older than the two of them. Draco had to disagree. He told her flatly that there were better girls out there. Although Pansy had seemed hurt at the time, she still continued to pester him. Draco was surprised he even got any work done, between listening to Pansy ranting, answering the letter's Astoria sent, and doing his work where he could. Draco was positive that he messed up on some parts of his work, especially when Crabbe and Goyle began to bother him. Could nobody leave him be for an hour to do a simple portion of his schoolwork? It seemed that at a time that he requested peace, chaos ensued, karma spiting him for all the bad that he had ever committed. Perfect timing as always, karma.

Draco stretched, his arms sore from bearing Pansy's weight and from writing so much in one short period. Crabbe and Goyle asked him what trouble they were going to cause, and Draco dismissed them, stating that he had important matters to discuss and that they could do what they pleased. Draco thought to himself after saying that that Crabbe and Goyle were hardly on their own, they didn't know what to do on their spare time but follow Draco around or try and cause trouble. Their dimwitted nature limited their ability to think of something more creative to pass the time with. They were primitive creatures, much like Muggles, so oblivious to what was above them. Draco avoided Pansy on his way out of the Common Room, darting between Blaise Zabini and another Slytherin, who were talking, barely giving an excuse to them. He didn't need to excuse himself for getting in the way of somebody else. He was Draco Malfoy, he could go where he wanted when he wanted. With Umbridge around, he had that much more freedom to do what he wanted without getting caught. Inquisitorial Squad gave him all the rights of a Prefect, perhaps even Head Student. In Draco's eyes, he was playing as the king in the Wizard's Chess, and was winning the game. Draco exited the Common Room through the portrait hole, snaking around the corner and walking toward the great oak doors that would lead to the outside grounds. He had all the time in the world; he could pull the Inquisitorial Squad badge out whenever he wanted, and it was his free pass to evading rules.

He stepped outside, the fresh air sweeping past him. He seemed even more pale in the moonlight, and his hair even light, almost white. That was what he had inherited from his parents. He had the stone grey eyes of his father's as well, unchanging in color from being inside, his pupils only smaller. His stone colored eyes looked up at the abyss above him. Beyond him and the castle was the dark and eerie forest. Above was the clear night, stars littered all about, brightly twinkling. Draco could not have cared less. He briskly walked down to the Lake, his Slytherin robes billowing behind him as he ventured downhill, down to where the bigger boulders were. Draco stopped only where the rocky area met the water. His reflection stared back at him from the water, a frayed image of his pale demure looking right back at him, daring him to move. He looked out at the lake, noticing glimmers of the creatures beneath past the reflection of the vast moon on the sparkling waters. Sighing, he moved back and sat on a boulder, waiting for Astoria. Draco hoped he would not be stood up by her, given the fact that he was waiting and she'd given her word to him that she would be present. They had much to talk about.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria hated homework sometimes. It got it the way of stuff she could be doing. Like. Wandering around. Oh wait, she couldn’t do that because she got stared at wherever she went. Going for her jog? No, she did that this morning. There was only so much jogging one could do during the day. Okay, it was then she had to admit. She really didn’t do anything. Especially now that Daphne was gone somewhere. And probably mad at her. She would come around though. She was her sister after all. Astoria had her reasons for doing what she was doing. And they were very good reasons at that. She just, couldn’t tell Daphne them.

The only people that knew were her, Draco, Blaise and Snape. Snape did not care too much for it, but it didn’t really matter to him. Blaise seemed to like it. He really didn’t care what went on though. Draco liked it, but didn’t want her getting hurt. Her confession to starting to actually like hanging out with Harry probably didn’t go so well either. He didn’t seem to much like that in the letter. She wasn’t really sure why. Yeah, Harry was the enemy, but still. She shrugged it off. Draco was confusing sometimes, but he was a great friend.

That was a main reason why Astoria agreed to meet with him. They had to discuss how the plan was going, which was something she really didn’t think would go well. There was no way she was going to admit that her head and her heart were thinking two different things. It was not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. She was going to try and prevent it as much as she could, but you can’t help it sometimes. Sighing, she decided she should leave for the lake.

Throwing her robes on, she left the common room and carefully made her way to the front door. She was a pureblood Slytherin, so Umbridge wouldn’t think much of her going outside. The lady loved Draco as well, so all she had to do was say she was meeting him and she was home free. Opening the doors, she looked around. No one was there. She smiled and headed down to the black lake. When she got closer, she could see the blonde hair that belonged to Draco. ”Hey there you.”

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[DRACO MALFOY]

The people that knew Draco best knew him for his impatience with people. He didn't often wait around for those that would be accompanying him somewhere, except when it was his parents. He would only wait for them. Anyone else would be left on their own to do what they wanted. Draco felt the need to let others know in a not so subtle way that he was the one they needed to be on time for, and if they failed to live up to his standards, he would leave them to fend for themselves. Draco did not wait. However, sitting outside on the rock, he began to think, losing track of the time that he had been waiting. His father had mailed him a letter the other that had frightened him a little, due to the nature of the letter. Of course he did not tell anyone what his father had said; when Draco had acted strangely at dinner that night, he blamed it on illness and left. There was not one single reason why Draco would wish to discuss his family matters with anyone else. What happened in the Malfoy family was never spoken outwardly, for the family itself wanted to protect its name and place in society. Pureblood society had always been important to Lucius Malfoy, and he passed that on to Draco with the warning that once a family fell from its place, it was terrifyingly difficult to rebuild it without scarring. So Draco kept to himself about a lot, and was a very private person. He hardly even told his friends about any personal problems. He was very secretive.

Draco thought mostly about the plan for Astoria Greengrass, the girl he was meeting. She was only thirteen and now being thrust into plans for manipulating Harry Potter. She was a good friend of Draco's and he really did not like the plan although he had agreed to it with Astoria. He would support her as long as she did not develop feelings for the prat. Draco was not a supporter of Harry Potter as practically everyone in Hogwarts knew, and he was well aware that the plan involved her being close with him. But the thought of that made him want to vomit in his mouth. Draco was not going to tell Astoria that; he merely wanted to protect her from having any backlash. He knew the Mudblood and Weaselbee would be none too pleased to hear that Astoria had manipulated and played with Harry's mind to get information and to scar him. Draco would be there in the end to keep Astoria from being hurt, that was what a proper friend did. If Granger or Weasley tried getting in Draco's way, they would be sorry. He would hex them into the next century if he needed to. That was what Draco believed in, and although he didn't like the plan to start off with, he believed in Astoria being able to complete it successfully without hurting herself in the process. If she developed feelings, Draco would not know how to deal with her. It was the absolute unthinkable, and he doubted highly that it would happen in the first place, so he really had nothing to worry about. All was going according to plan without any flaws, and would continue that way.

He sighed, breathing in the fresh air. It was a relief to for once not be cramped up in the stuffy Slytherin Common Room at the hour that it was, because it would be at its busiest. Most of the Slytherins crowded in at that time, and it would make Draco feel crowded. He liked walking about at night, because Umbridge gave him free will to, and because hardly anyone bothered him unless it was a daring Prefect. Many of them knew his status in the Inquisitorial Squad and left him well alone. The power he had made him greedy and eager for more power. He loved being on top of the world, as he was. Draco would use and abuse his power as he wanted and recently flaunted that fact. A light, feminine voice rang through his ears and Draco turned his head. He'd lost track of time, and Astoria was finally joining him. Draco smirked at her, because it was the closest he could get to a real smile. He smirked more often than he smiled, and he rarely ever smiled. Draco was just not the type to ever smile. "Hello yourself." Draco replied in a relaxed manner. He could be himself to Astoria, she wouldn't change her mind about him. Draco was fighting to keep quiet about the plan, to not ask as soon as Astoria had joined him, but before he could keep himself shut up about it, he'd asked her about it. "How is the plan coming, truthfully? I'd like to know what it's like to really get inside the mind of Potter and toy around with it." Draco asked mischievously, an evil sounding undertone weaving through his words.

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria missed Draco. They were two years apart, but since he and her sister were really good friends, Astoria used to hand out with them quite a bit. She mostly stuck by her sister when they weren’t in classes, so she didn’t socialize much. Which would explain her constant boredom. Maybe she should socialize more. Right. It was too late for that. Everyone already had their own groups of friends. They wouldn’t want to add another person. Especially her. The plan was working. Oh boy, was it working alright. She was sacrificing so much for it, so she was really hoping it would be worth it. That she could help out.

When she heard what Draco said, she put her own smirk on her face. ”It’s going bloody brilliantly. I have that boy wrapped around my finger, or however that saying goes. He has no idea what’s going on, and it’s actually very fun. His two little friends aren’t too happy though. Granger’s a little more understanding, but Weasley blew a gasket. It was quite amusing.” She couldn’t believe herself. She was having fun with the plan, but the fun part came from hanging out with Harry. They got along great. She wished Hermione and Ron would come around, but she really didn’t think it would. She had to admit it to somebody. She knew Draco probably wasn’t the best person to admit it to, but she knew he would never leave her side. He wouldn’t be happy, but he’d still be her friend and be there for her. She hoped.

”I can’t lie to you Draco. The plan is going well, but only because it’s real. Every laugh I give off. Every smile that crosses my face. It’s all real. I’ve even got myself convinced. I think I’ve actually fallen for him Draco. I need help. I need to get over this. I need my brain to tell my heart to stop it.” There. It was out. It was true. She didn’t want to fall for. Potter. She had to tell herself that. He wasn’t supposed to be Harry to her. He was Potter. She needed Draco’s help. She was just hoping he would help her.

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((I had this idea. She would ask Draco for help, stop actually falling for Harry for a little bit because of it, but fall for him anyways. Then he finds out and blah blah blah. Rest of plot happens. So, whatever Draco needs to do to not have her fall for Harry, go for it.))