Snow Storm - D.M , H.G

32. The other fiancé

Draco had never paid much mind to Astoria Greengrass. She was two years younger, and they didn't run in the same circle of friends. He was vaguely aware that she was a good-looking girl, and he'd never resented the arrangement between them. He figured he could stand to marry her if it came to it, that is, until now. Now Draco sat in the Great Hall eating dinner and he couldn't take his attention off of her. She was just carrying on, laughing, chatting, eating her fill, most likely completely unaware that her mere existence was causing him such anguish. And it wasn't even her fault.

He'd had two days to consider how to handle their little "situation", and he'd come to the conclusion that he could get no further without speaking with her directly. He waited until she stood to leave and followed.

"Astoria!" He called to her, trying to sound casual. It'd been at least two years since they'd so much as acknowledged each other's presence, much less the ties between them. "Can we talk?" he asked when she turned.

Astoria made her way out of the great hall, only stopping when she heard someone call her name. She turned, surprised to find that it was none other than Draco Malfoy. She looked at him, eyebrow raised, and shrugged. "If you're looking for a congrats, don't bother," she told him. Honestly, she was happy to be out of the situation their parents had put them in. Her interests elsewhere, but that didn't change the fact that they were technically supposed to be married, and he had gone and gotten engaged without even consulting her.

Draco rolled his eyes. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to deal with "his kind" of people. "No, it's not that. I mean it's about that. Can we just go somewhere? It's private." He asked, but he hoped she realized it wasn't a question.

Astoria let out a sigh, as if speaking to him would greatly inconvenience her day. "Fine, lead the way," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and made to follow him.

Draco led Astoria into an empty classroom and shut the door. "You're not actually mad at me about proposing to Hermione are you?" It was the first thing he needed to establish. She was either being a brat for the fun of it or he had some actual damage control to do here.

She followed him inside, sitting on an empty desk to face him. She considered his question for a moment, she wasn't actually upset, but it was also clear to her that he needed something from her, otherwise she probably would have never heard from him concerning the whole thing. "Well, it does complicate things for me. My father will be livid, if he's not already seen the announcement," she told him.

"Yeah, well, your father and I have a bone to pick. Do you have any idea what our fathers decided to do to ensure I marry you?" He was angry again, and was about to begin pacing again as well. He sat himself on the edge of a desk instead, and his leg began jumping with anxiety.

Astoria examined him, he looked pissed. "What? What did they do?" She asked him. As far as she knew they simply had a verbal agreement that they would marry when she was of age. Which, may have been great, considering he had turned out to be quite handsome. But his reputation told her that she would likely end up with an unfaithful husband, if they went through with it.

Draco became aware of the shaking of his leg and planted his foot firmly on the floor to make it stop. "An unbreakable vow," he informed her venomously. He half expected her to be as angry about it as he was.

Her eyebrow perked up at his words, "No shit?" She said. "Those bloody idiots.," she muttered. "Wait, which one of them made the vow?" She asked curiously, "And better yet, when did you find out about this?" She added. He seemed pissed, which probably meant his fathers' life was on the line, and he probably didn't know about it before he got engaged.

"Monday afternoon, when my mother wrote to my fiance begging her to call off the engagement," Draco growled his answer. "As if I even care to save my father's life, but Granger reckons it'll put a damper on the wedding if we let Lucius die."