Act 2: The Stage
There was something so other-worldly about her that I half-expected I would be brought to some supernatural place, like a clearing or a secret passageway. But I had no such luck. Instead, I was brought to her large bedroom. She stood in the open doorway for a minute while I examined the room. She was perfectly still and silent, as if she were assessing my every move.
I wandered about, picking objects up every now and then. It was sparse ” it didn’t fit her. The room was painted the palest blue, and it was adorned with white lace. It seemed like a princess’s room, certainly, but not like her.
“I can’t imagine you here,” I commented casually.
She closed the door and walked to the other side of the room. It was the first time I noticed how fluid her movements were, almost as if she were floating instead of walking.
“Neither can I,” she said in a bored tone, picking up a white satin pillow. She stared at it, and for a second I thought she would calmly replace it on the chair. Instead, the smile appearing just a split-second before, she whipped the pillow at my head ” though she was standing far across the wide room ” and it collided easily, her aim true.
“Hey, you brat!” I exclaimed.
“What can I say ” I’m a Chaser,” she laughed.
Without even considering it, I stooped and picked up the pillow, throwing it at her. It missed her head by inches, but only ” I told myself ” because she ducked.
I grabbed another pillow and closed the gap between us in just a few strides. I found myself laughing in a way I hadn’t laughed in years. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice growing high as she laughed as well. For an instant I considered the fact that Daphne told me Astoria laughed when she was truly happy, and that made my own smile widen.
I hit her with the pillow, not in a harsh way, but in one that was strangely playful. “Draco!” she shrieked, taking a step back. She stepped on another pillow and began to lurch a bit, off-balance. She clutched my arms, jolting forward to prevent herself from falling. I felt my hands fall automatically to her waist, to steady her.
She looked up at me, and her face flushed. I was thrown off by such a natural reaction; for once she seemed like a real person, and I felt myself smile again.
“Thanks,” she said.
I was instantly aware that my arms were still at her waist and that her hands were still tight on my arms. I suddenly realised how intimate the position was, especially the way her face was tilted up at me, and the way her eyes were staring at me…
I felt my smile fade as hers did, and reluctantly I removed my hands.
“Anyone ever told you that you’re strange?” I asked her, unable to help myself from leaning toward her.
“I bet no one’s ever noticed that you’re just as strange,” she said, her voice smug, and the smile appeared again.
“Sorry, but I don’t think I’m quite to your level of absolute weirdness yet.”
“You’ll get there,” she answered, and she leaned closer to me as well. Now there were just inches between us.
“Going to convert me?”
“I bet you’d like me to, wouldn’t you?”
Her eyelids dropped a little, and my own eyes close just a moment later. I was being pulled into her, wanting nothing more than to close the gap ” just a few small inches to get to her ” that was all.
But abruptly I opened my eyes and stepped back quickly.
“Why the hell are you trying to seduce me, little girl?” I snapped.
She laughed again, but it sounded different this time; I wondered if this time it was actually a laugh instead of an indication of how happy she was. But I quickly shoved the thought out of my mind, wishing I didn’t find every facet of Astoria Greengrass so intriguing.
“Seduce you?… No, I’m not trying to ” though I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult.”
It was strange that I could still be startled by her comments like that. “How old are you?” I asked.
“Seventeen,” she answered easily, dropping gracefully to the ground, where she sat comfortably against the couch. I must have been giving her a startled look, because she smirked slightly as she gestured to the ground across from her. “I have a feeling you’re going to be asking me a lot of questions, aren’t you?” she asked.
“What will your parents and Daphne think we’re doing?”
“Oh, Mum and Father will probably think I’m terrifying you with the inner workings of my screwed-up mind, and Daphne will probably think we’re having sex.” She shrugged nonchalantly, her voice as blunt as always.
It was all I could do to choke back a laugh. So unusual, this girl. I sat across from her, wondering where to start. There was nothing I didn’t want to know about her.
All my life I had been surrounded by purebloods who only said what they thought they should or what they thought others would like to hear. I wasn’t much different, but after a while it got annoying, like I was always part of a play. I was saying my lines, others would say theirs in perfect sync, but underneath it all no one said what they truly believed… Well, perhaps a few fully believed it, but those were the ones even more mindless than those of us who were merely actors.
Astoria was fundamentally different. She had grown up in the same environment, and yet she wasn’t a part of the play. Everything she did or said was unscripted, and so every single moment I was with her I was waiting for her to do something that I would never expect. She was like a breath of fresh air into the world that I had lived in for so long.
It was strange to not know the script anymore. Improvising all the time was sometimes a little intimidating, and yet I wasn’t used to having so many possibilities.