Of The Stars || a collection ||

Only Seventeen

The Evening Before

Astoria had always believed that eating sweets could make any problem disappear. But as she was finishing her second jar of Pink Coconut Ice, she realized then that not even her favorite Honeydukes sweet could make the situation go away, or at the very least, get any better. A discontented sigh escaped her lips. No, not even the sweets could help her now.

That weekend the night sky had been dotted with about a thousand or more stars. She had been sitting alone on a tree log at the beach by the bonfire, eating her fill of sweets, listening to the sound of the Aegean Sea and wondering when she'd have any control over her life. Because tomorrow, she will lose all control of it when she marries Draco Malfoy.

She had not realized that there were people behind her until she heard the crisp voice of her friend, Romilda.

"You know, there is this thing called diabetes in the muggle world," Romilda said matter-of-factly, appearing at last to sit at the other side of the bonfire on one of the logs. She was carrying what appeared to be a bottle of liquid amber. You didn't have to be a genius to realise it was firewhiskey. She jutted her chin towards the jar of pink coconut ice in Astoria's hands. "You could get it if you eat too much of those sweets."

"Romilda, stop scaring her," A second voice scolded. Hannah joined them, sitting on the log to Astoria's right. Her pale face turned in Astoria's direction. "You've been here most of the day, Tori. We're worried about you."

"Can you blame me?" Astoria asked as she stared at the sparking embers of the bonfire before them, fidgeting with her half eaten jar of pink coconut ice. "I'm only seventeen and I'm about to get married to a man I don't love."

She heard Hannah sigh as Romilda popped open the bottle of Firewhiskey. Hannah shoved a bit of her hair behind her ear. Astora saw that she had a flower placed behind her ear. A sunflower. How Hannah got one of those, Astoria wondered, but couldn't find the energy to ask.

"Look, ever since we got to Greece, you haven't exactly been yourself." Hannah explained, fidgeting with the hem of her shorts. "And I know it's because you're about to get married, but... you need to let us help. This isn't healthy for you."

"Tell me about it." Romilda commented offhandedly as she took a swig of firewhiskey, swallowing and letting it flow down her throat.

Hannah frowns at their friend. "What Romilda is trying to say is that we want to help you. We're your friends. Your best friends, I might add. And your bridesmaids, too. But we can't do that if you're reluctant and sulking all the time."

"I'm sorry," Astoria apologized as she wiped her mouth off with her hand to rid herself of the sticking bits of pink coconut ice on the top and side of her lips. "It's just been very... difficult. I mean, Draco's really nice, uncharacteristically nice, actually. And he's been very considerate ever since our parents signed the engagement contract but... it's not fair. We weren't given enough time, let alone any liberty to decide if we want this or not."

"We can't change... tradition, even if we wanted to." Romilda sighed tiredly as she stared at Astoria from across the bonfire. "It's a binding magical thing, these ridiculous pureblood engagements. Unless you lose your virtue now, you're pretty much stuck."

"You're not helping very much, Romilda." Hannah shook her head of blonde hair, disappointment etched on her face.

Romilda rolled her eyes at Hannah. "Well, it's better if she faces the cold hard truth than have you sugar coat the rubbish. Even Astoria can see past the sweetness of it."

"Yes, Romilda's right," Astoria said, then paused as she listened to the sound of the waves splash against the shore. It calmed her, hearing the sea. She chewed her bottom lip before looking up at her friends. "I can't change tradition. The best I can do is make the most out of it. But how can I? I've only just graduated from Hogwarts, and there's so much more I could do. I wanted to travel. I wanted to see the world before I... you know..."