Dead Girl Walking (Draco x Astoria)

Chapter 21 - A Month

Astoria hurried herself to get ready. She put her earrings on, brushed her hair harshly, and put her shoes on carelessly.

She and Ella walked quickly down the hallway. "Do you really think there could be a trial over this?" Astoria asked worriedly.

"Do not think about that!" Ella huffed. "You are nineteen, he is twenty. I hardly see the need for a trial! There has been no crime committed, or any crime for that matter." They hurried down the stairs.

All of them stood around the dining table at one o'clock that day.

"They can't possibly arrest you, these are lies made up by my family." Astoria worried, looking at Draco.

Blaise shook his head. "They'll come to arrest him any moment now. They don't care if he is innocent- if there's an accusation against someone like Draco, they're going to take anything they can get."

Astoria shook her head, pacing.

"I hardly find the whole claim believable. How can anyone sane believe this?" Theo scoffed, taking the newspaper. "They're saying he kidnapped her. That's absurd! Once she comes forward and says he didn't, they will have to let him go."

"Lawyers." Blaise said, taking Theo with him to another room.

"There will be no trial, don't be silly!" Ella yelled after them, stomping her foot.

"Kidnapped me? Blackmail? It's unbelievable!" Astoria scoffed. "My family are doing everything they can to get me back." She looked at Draco but all he was paying attention to was the table, his hands grabbing the edge, hunched over.

Ella took the paper. "They're saying that you're so sickly, that you cannot defend yourself against him, and he must be arrested immediately, since he is such a dangerous death eater, and you must be saved from him. This bloody disgusts me, honestly!"

Astoria shook her head in disbelief and just then, the door banged many times. She gasped, looking at Draco who looked to the door.

Ella gasped, running off to the other room to find Theo and Blaise. Astoria immediately went to Draco.

"I will not let them take you." She grabbed his arms, making him stand up straight, he didn't look at her, and the door kept banging louder. "Come on, come on, I'm right here!" She whispered desperately.

She took her fingers to his jaw to make him look at her. "Look at me, please. When they come in, I'll explain."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No."

She leaned back. "No?" He touched her hand for a second before he pulled it away from his face.

"That's not how they work. They don't listen to anyone, especially not me. Your family, they're, they're," he paused, pressing his lips together. "They're influential. The most important point of all, they didn't serve with the dark lord, like I happened to. You're innocent- a sick girl."

She shook her head. "You said I wasn't a sick person." She frowned. "Now I am?" Her hand went to rest by his neck, and he clasped his own hand around her wrist there.

She gasped, immediately grabbing his shoulder as she heard the door smash open.

"If they catch you they'll just throw you back to your parents. Remember the entrance out back? Long grass near the lake. Go, now! Go hide in it." He shoved her back and she hit the chair, yelling out in shock and pain.

"Go, now!" He demanded. He turned away and walked towards the foyer- she couldn't stop him. It all became a big blur when he left.

Immediately, she ran towards the back to the lake and hid in the tall long grass, sobbing as she buried her face into the soil.

It must have been a few hours and she was still there until Blaise called out her name. She slowly lifted her head above the grass, and he ran to get her.

"Astoria!" He reached her and helped her up. He wiped the grass off her face and neck. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Can you get up?"

"I heard them beat him just before I left..." she sobbed, pulling some of the grass out.

"That's okay. He'll live. He's been through worse." He grabbed her arms and lifted her to her feet slowly.

"We need to," she breathed, trying to catch her breath. "We need to go now," she looked at Blaise. "We need to go and clear his name."

"There's a new issue in the paper you need to see. It's about your parents."

Astoria sighed, hurrying inside with him.

"Where have you been? Your parents have issued a statement!" Ella gave her the paper. "They completely trashed the foyer, by the way."

"Well, isn't that great. My mother did all the talking. They're just asking for my return. I will never go back. I will go down there, tell them I wasn't kidnapped, and they will release him."

"Astoria," Theo sighed. "If you go now, they're just going to take you away and keep him there. You need to wait a month. That's how long I expect they'll try and keep him for." Astoria gasped, starting to panic.

Blaise spoke up. "If you go, they won't let you go back to whoever you want. You'll have to go back to your parents." He thought for a moment. "You better go at the end of the month and leave with him at the same time. You have to hide until then."

"I thought the ministry had a right to keep arrested people for two weeks, not a month!" Ella butted.

"It's two weeks for everyone else," Theo said. "One month for people like us, sweetheart. Go pack your things, and we'll stay at a home I bought a few weeks ago. It's far too risky staying here. We must go now."

Blaise and Theo immediately left.

"My parents have sent me word that your parents had already come over to ask for you there. They're searching everywhere for you, Astoria."

Astoria was thinking, taking deep breaths. She couldn't calm herself down. "I'll," she breathed, "I'll stay hidden for a month, then, we'll go and get him. Right?"

Ella nodded slowly, holding her friends shoulder. "Right. Let's go now."