"Astrid!"

Her heart soared at the sound of the voice she loved more than any other sound in the world.

She looked up, grinning at the approaching white-blond haired boy.

"Did you miss me?" He grinned back, lazily placing himself on the swing next to hers.

Of course I did, she thought, as she stared into his beautiful silver grey eyes, every second of every day that you've been away. With every beat of my heart, I missed you.

But she did not say these words out loud.

Instead, she simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess."

...

Draco's eyes flew open. Another day in hell.

Not even having his own quarters cheered him up. If anything, it just made him feel lonelier than ever.

His eyes automatically roamed to the door, as they so often did, and he thought about the girl just across that little hallway.

But she wasn't his girl anymore, he had to remind himself. No matter how much he wished for her back, he had to except that she was gone.

"Did you hear?" Pansy screeched in his face as he entered the Slytherin common room half an hour later, "there's going to be a Halloween ball!"

Fantastic. Just not what Draco needed.

"Great, good for you," he muttered, trying to side step around her to get to the exit. But she stepped with him, blocking his way.

"I haven't got a date yet, just so you know," she said hopefully, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Draco internally shuddered. The thought of taking back up with Pansy was just ludicrous to him. He'd sooner date Moaning Myrtle.

Thankfully, Draco was saved by a dark haired girl, who too, was approaching the exit.

"Oh! A ball? That sounds lovely!"

"It's for sixth and seventh years only, unless invited!" Pansy spat, narrowing her eyes at Daphne's little sister.

Astoria's face coloured, and Draco found himself feeling sorry for her.

"Well, I can invite you," he offered, if only to get Pansy off his back. It was worth it to see her face turn puce.

"What? You mean as a date?" Astoria asked, her eyes widening slightly.

Shit. Draco didn't mean that at all. But he didn't want to humiliate the poor girl in front of Pansy.

"Uh... sure," he answered, wishing so much he had just kept his mouth shut.

"Daphne's going to freak!" Pansy shrieked, practically spitting all over the place.

"Oh, like I give a flying fuck what Greengrass thinks!" Draco fumed, pushing Pansy angrily out of the way as he finally stormed towards the exit.

"I look forward to it!" He heard Astoria call as he stepped into the dungeons corridor.

What in merlin's beard had he let himself in for?

...

It was a weekend and therefore no classes, so Draco decided to grab some breakfast to go and sit outside for some peace and quiet.

If truth be told though, Draco thought wryly as he bit into his apple, shivering against the cold autumnal wind, it was because he wanted to avoid Astoria.

He wasn't thick. He could see she had a crush on him. But he didn't want to lead her on. Not only was she too young, she just wasn't Astrid.

Although Astrid wasn't Astrid either so he was screwed in that department.

He sighed, leaning against the beech tree that overlooked the lake. They weren't even halfway through the first term yet, and he didn't know how he was going to survive a whole year of this.

Distance screams could be heard coming from somewhere below the grounds. Saturday detentions, no doubt. Astrid would be busy.

Draco thought back to his Astrid from the playground. She would have been horrified, he thought sadly, to learn of what she would become.

Another scream echoed from underground, and Draco closed his eyes, trying not to imagine which poor child was facing the wrath of Voldemort's daughter.

"E-Excuse me... uh- mister,"

Draco's eyes flew open, and he felt a flicker of irritation. Couldn't the boy see he was trying to have a peaceful breakfast?

"What?" He snapped, making the second year Ravenclaw flinch.

"Uh- um, Professor Carrow wants you in her office immediately." The boy stuttered, his cheeks flaming pink.

"Why?" Draco asked, a sudden dread rising from the pit of his stomach. The Carrows office was also known as the torture room. Exactly where those screams were coming from right at that moment.

But the terrified Ravenclaw just shook his head, "I- I don't know, mister. She just grabbed me in the corridor and demanded I find you."

With one last frightened glance, the boy took off before Draco could ask any more questions.

Draco didn't want to go. But he knew that the Ravenclaw kid would be punished severely if he didn't. So, with a heavy feeling, Draco threw the rest of his apple into the lake and trudged miserably back up to the castle.

The screams got louder, reverberating off the cold stone walls, as he descended into the dungeons. Draco felt sick, the last thing he wanted to witness were kids getting tortured. But he didn't see he had much choice.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door of the Carrows office, where a long queue of terrified children were waiting alongside the wall. The door flew open almost immediately and the stocky little figure of Alecto Carrow wheezed delightedly at seeing Draco. She pulled him in, grabbing his arm with her stubby little fingers.

"Good, good, you're here! Turns out we have too many children on detention and not enough torturers. The Dark Lord's daughter is doing well, but Amycus and I need a break. It gets exhausting, see."

Draco looked at her in utter horror. Was he meant to pity this vile witch? "And just what, may I ask," he snarled, "do you want me to do about that?"

"Well I'm not asking you for a foot rub, am I?" She spat, but then suddenly her features softened as she raised her eyebrows up at him, her eyes flashing coyly, "although if you are offering..."

Draco recoiled in disgust as she placed a gnarled finger under his chin. "Don't touch me, woman!"

A horrifying scream started up at the back of the room, and Draco's head shot up to see a Gryffindor boy, he recognised as the Creevey boy who used to follow Potter around with a camera, chained up against the wall, his body writhing and jerking in all sorts of crazy directions.

And, standing feet away from him, was Astrid, her hands up in front of her, watching Creevey beg for mercy through her blank, dark swirling eyes.

Draco swallowed, "is she- is she doing that without a wand?" He stuttered, not quite believing his eyes.

"The Dark Lord's daughter doesn't need one, such as powerful is her magic," Alecto said with complete admiration as they both stood there watching Astrid silently cast the Cruciatius Curse through her palms.

"Anyway!" Alecto said, shaking herself out of her trance and turning business like. "Amycus is on a break and I need you to help Riddle torture the rest. We say half an hour per child should do the trick. If you could start with the kid over here on the chair and then call the next one through when you're finished with her. I have a list somewhere..."

Draco looked to his right, and sure enough, a Hufflepuff girl was bound to a chair. Just like he had also been on the night of Astrid's farewell party.

But this was just a young child, a first year in fact. Draco looked into her large, saucer like eyes, full of terror, and knew he could not bring himself to torture this child any more than he could kill his own mother.

"No." Draco said, already turning for the door. He would not be a part of this.

"I think you misunderstood, Malfoy." Alecto barked in a harsh tone. "This was an order, not a request."

"I don't care, I'm not doing it," Draco said, his hand already on the door. He felt sick being in there as it was, watching Astrid coldly torture innocent kids.

"Crucio!" He heard Alecto scream just as pain tore through him, making him collapse, roaring in agony to the ground, feeling as though his body was being ripped into a thousand pieces.

And then suddenly, just as quickly as it started, the pain left. Draco remained on the ground, his forehead pressing into the cold stone floor as he struggled to get his breath back. When he lifted his head to see what had happened, his breath hitched in his throat.

"What?" He croaked hoarsely, taking in the scene, as his heart hammered maddeningly in his chest.

Alecto was no longer standing by her desk, but was sprawled unconscious on the ground by wall on the far end of the office.

And Astrid, who was now turned away from Creevey, had her arms up in front of her, her palms facing to where Alecto had been standing.

He looked at Astrid curiously, her chest rising and falling rapidly - almost as if she was angry. She let her arms fall by her side and turned her head slowly, to face down towards where Draco lay.

And he could have sworn that, when he looked into her eyes, he saw the merest flash of blue.