Harry Potter: The Price of Silence.

Voldemort would have been furious if he'd found out that another of the hostages had prematurely expired. Luckily Draco had the common sense to dispose of the body, and alter the memories of the guards watching the hostages before they'd realised what he'd done. The Dark Lord would think the guards - two new and utterly useless Black Masks- had suffocated her to death while securing her chains. He'd kill them for it, but Draco didn't really care about that. They were useless, weren't even worthy of wearing the simple Black Masks to begin with. The Dark Lord's ranks would be stronger without them.

The next night he'd sought out Astoria's preferred medicine, and tried to find peace at the bottom of a bottle of aged whisky. Astoria had been all too eager to join him, and the pair had raided his father's liquor cabinet like excited children on Christmas morning. Astoria passed out around 2 am, Draco around 4.

Astoria elbowed him suddenly when Granger appeared from behind the cluster of blooming Crocus flowers. She had her black cardigan pulled tight around her body, and a cup of steaming tea in her hands. She froze when she saw Draco and Astoria. She paused mid-step, and her eyes widened a fraction. Then she offered Astoria a warm smile, gave her a little wave, and left in the direction she'd come from. She didn't look at Draco.

"She seems quite taken aback when she finds us sitting here," Astoria said as Granger's bushy hair disappeared around the corner. "I think she's grown quite fond of this bench."

"Has she?" Draco drawled, uninterested.

"Mhmm." Astoria paused to sip from her flask. "It's odd, don't you think? That she would find herself drawn to this particular bench, over all the others scattered around the estate?"

"Not really."

He could feel Astoria watching him from over the top of her flask. "She's quite beautiful, don't you think?"

Malfoy took another drag and tilted his head towards the clouds. "Is she?"

Astoria tsked; he practically heard her eyes rolling in her head. "Don't pretend you haven't noticed."

"She's a filthy Mudblood Astoria. She's only here because the Dark Lord has use for her. If he didn't have plans for her, I'd have already ripped her liver out and fed it to the dragon."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't lie to me Draco, you know you've never been any good at it." The bench creaked as she shuffled closer to him. "Ever since we were children, I've always been able to tell when you're lying."

"Really?" he huffed. "And what exactly gives me away?"

Astoria scoffed and drained what was left in the flask. "Like I would tell you what it is and lose my advantage - and don't try and change the subject. You spend an awful lot of time with Hermione, don't tell me you haven't noticed how lovely she is?"

"Has anyone ever told you how blissfully annoying you are?"

"-I've seen the little glances you give her when you think no one's watching-"

"Like a blonde cockroach, just begging to be squished-"

"- you're spending hours and hours in her head, it's only natural that you would form a connection with her-"

"You're looking for things that aren't there, Astoria," Malfoy sneered, the exhale engulfing him in smoke. "I spend time with her because I am required to do so at the Dark Lord's request. Achieving the goal he's set requires time and patience. Unfortunately, I can't complete it from a distance." He groaned when he realised his cigarette had expired. He crushed the butt under the heel of his boot and lit a fresh one before he continued. "And those 'little glances' that you're referring to are merely my checking of her physical health. The Dark Lord requires her in top condition if she's to be useful, and I can't have her tripping and breaking her neck down the stairs because she's dizzy from blood loss-"

"You think she has pretty eyes," Astoria cut him off, her lips twitching into a smirk. "Even if you do want to gouge them out, you still think they're pretty."

If Astoria had slapped Draco across the face, it would have shocked him less. He stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly. She really didn't miss a thing; she was an insightful little bleeder.

When Draco stayed quiet, her smirk stretched into an enormous grin. "Your ancestors didn't make the walls very thick when they built this estate, and you're very loud when your angry."

"It's impolite for a lady to eavesdrop-"

The tiny blonde dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "I don't blame you. Her eyes are quite beautiful, but she has a smile that could melt ice." She stood from the bench and flattened non-existent creases in her skirt, then turned back and smiled at Draco. "I think it could even melt the ice around your cold little heart, if you let her." She gave him a look and held out her arm, an invitation to continue their walk, and he was grateful for her willingness to change the subject.

He drew a deep, final drag, crunched the expired butt under his boot, then stood and took her arm. "I'm leaving on the 12th," he said as they made their way back towards the manor.

Astoria looked up at him.

"The Dark Lord has an assignment he needs me to take care of in Italy," he continued. "I'll only be gone for a few days."

"Oh, well then that'll mean Hermione will be on her own for a day or two." Astoria pursed her lips, her eyes on the clouds above, deep in thought, a trait she'd inherited from her husband. "I'll have to get the elves to set charms so her meals appear in her room. I wonder if there are any particular meals she would-" Astoria sighed when Draco arched a brow. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already? I reminded you on Monday that Blaise and I are going to Germany next week, and Theo has to be in Manchester for a few days."

"Sorry if I can't remember everything, Tori. I'm a little busy being the Dark Lord's chief general and torturing countless hostages to remember every mundane detail you blather on about," Draco growled, and then instantly regretted it. He'd already snapped at Astoria once today, he might lose his drinking partner if he did it again. "Can't the house-elves watch her?"

"No, we're taking them with us."

"Why-"

"Hermione is not a dog Malfoy," Astoria interrupted. "She's more than capable of being alone for a few days. It might do her health - and her sanity - good to have a break from us all. Heaven knows the constant stream of death and blood you boys pour into the manor can be stifling."

Draco didn't trust himself to respond. Instead, he tilted his head towards the house, intending to trace patterns in the brick while he listened to Astoria's ramblings, only to lock onto a pair of warm, honey-coloured eyes from a bedroom window high above, and for some reason, he found himself unable to look away. They were eyes that used to look at him with such malice and anger and hatred burned into them. Eyes that were fierce, and glowed with a type of determination that only a lioness could conjure.

But those eyes- fuck, those eyes held nothing but sympathy and pity when they looked at him now, and he fucking hated her for it.