Underneath It All + Draco Malfoy

PROLOGUE.

Astrid's. 

If there was one place in the world that Astrid Selwyn felt the most safe, it would her tiny bedroom in her family's cottage home, private enough for only herself, yet in just an arm's reach by the people that kept her safe. 

She had resigned to the room more often than normal in the summer between her fifth and sixth years as a Hogwarts student. She was always recluse, and had few people she called friends at school, yet after the mass breakout from Azkaban, that small number had vanished. She had always thought she had no real need for friends, that she enjoyed her own company, but perhaps it was getting to her after all. 

She couldn't blame them, she supposed. She was the niece of one of the Death Eaters that had escaped. With rumors flying around about how the prisoners escaped, one such theory being that her father helped his brother and accomplices escape, people distanced themselves.

Astrid's father had tried to do damage control. It had been long since Alistair Selwyn had cut ties with his family, when he was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. Though it had never been public knowledge until Alistair put out a public statement a few days after the incident, condemning his brother's actions and his family's beliefs. He had no choice to, not when both he and Astrid's brother, Aiden, had positions in the Auror office at the Ministry. 

The article prevented an investigation into their family from being carried out, but Aiden frequently complained that he was only doing grunt work since the incident. There were many who didn't entirely believe their innocence, and that included some of Astrid's classmates. It only got worse after the Battle of the Ministry of Magic, as many were calling it. 

Astrid bent down; her textbooks for the year were scattered all over the floor. They were all that she had left to pack for her return to school. She piled them in her arms, then stood over the trunk that lay open on her bed, and placed them into the trunk atop her Ravenclaw robes. She sighed, then turned to face the rest of the room, scanning it for anything she might have missed. Her eyes landed on a portrait that sat on her bedside table, and she reached for it. 

It was a portrait of the four of them. Her parents stood in the back, her father was rugged and handsome as ever. He was busy looking at Astrid's mother, who stood tall and beautiful, her smile making the entire photo shine. Both Astrid and Aidan took after their mother more than their father, including her sharp features and lighter coloured hair — the only thing Aidan inherited from their father was his brashness which led to him being sorted into Gryffindor too. Astrid was laughing in the portrait — her brother had made a joke about the photographer's ridiculous mustache. Needless to say, they definitely got a scolding from their mother afterwards. Her brother looked a lot different in the portrait — he was clean shaven, and has since then started to grow out his facial hair.

She placed the portrait in her trunk next to her textbooks, before locking it shut. At that moment, there was a knock on her bedroom door, then the creaking of the door opening.

"I have to head into the office, so I won't be able to see you off." It was her brother, stepping further into the room. 

The pair of siblings hugged each other tight before her brother pulled back first.

"I've something for you," Aidan said, before reaching in his pocket to pull out a necklace. Astrid recognized the metal pendant as Thor's hammer, a symbol of one of the gods that their mother's family worshiped, many generations before them. "Mother gave it to me when I first started working at the Ministry — she said it would protect me. I think you'll need it more than me."

Astrid smiled a little. Despite their frequent bickering and snide remarks at each other, it was nice to be serious with him sometimes. "I'll miss you."

"I know, I'll miss you too. Try not to get into too much trouble, yeah?"

"I think you're mistaking me for yourself," she said with a grin. "And don't get yourself injured again — save our poor mother from a heart attack."

Now it was Aidan rolling his eyes, but he was smiling too. "It was one time. It was hardly my fault, it was that twat of a partner they put me with —"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the excuse a million times before."

The incident they were referring to occurred two years ago, when Aidan was still a rookie. His partner panicked and instead of hitting the thief that they were supposed to task, he hit Aidan with the curse instead. So imagine their mother's surprise when she was on the clock, only to have her son, knocked unconscious, wheeled in just as she was about to leave. He hadn't heard the end of her worrying for months, and it still comes up from time to time.

"You better get going then, before she starts to rush you."

With her brother's help, she carried her trunk downstairs, and after bidding another farewell to her brother, who left for work, she and her parents left for King's Cross station. 

The stares that they received there were less than discreet, and she was starting to grow used to it in the past few months. The three of them knew better than to engage in any kind of conflict. 

Fifteen minutes before eleven o'clock, Astrid found herself on the familiar platform 9¾. When they approached one of the compartments, she stopped just before the entrance, then turned to hug her father. 

"Stay out of trouble," he said to her as he returned her hug with a tight squeeze. Astrid let go, then turned to her mother. 

"Make sure you write often," she said, just as she pulled Astrid in to kiss her on the cheek, then hug her tightly. 

"Of course," Astrid responded, and when they finished their goodbyes, she turned towards the train, hauling her trunk behind her. It did not take long for her to find an empty compartment, as many of the students were kept back on the platform by their parents. Her own had to rush back to work. 

It wasn't until five minutes before eleven that the train started to fill up. When it started to move, her eyes drifted to the window, watching as the station moved past. Through the reflection, she could see other students peeking into the near-empty compartment, but when they realized who she was, they kept walking. 

Perhaps five minutes into the ride, she heard the door to the compartment open, causing her head to turn towards it. 

Draco Malfoy stood before her looking almost dazed, as if he walked in somewhere that he ought not to. Like a mouse after a cat, Pansy Parkinson came trailing after him. She tore her gaze away from Draco long enough to see Astrid, her gaze hardening. 

"What are you doing?" She demanded. 

Draco looked at her. "There's nowhere else to sit." 

"We'll find somewhere else. I'm not sitting with a blood traitor," Pansy sneered, then walked off. 

For a moment, Draco and Astrid locked eyes, then he closed the door to the compartment and went on his way.