Aster's POV

"Can you please stop scowling?"

I frowned at Blaise.  His dark eyes squinted at me in defiance.

"Seriously, it's depressing" he drawled, before reaching out and picking up a green apple from the bowl in the middle of the table.

I snatched it out of his hand and placed it back in the bowl, my frown now feeling permanently etched on my face.

"What was that for?" he whined, screwing his nose at me.

I didn't reply. Instead I ran my eyes up and down the long table.

"Is this about Malfoy?" he hissed at me, clearly annoyed still.

I gave Blaise another gut wrenching glare.

He looked back at me, pity glowering back at me.

Bile gurgled in my dry throat.

"Aster, c'mon he will talk to you eventually" he grumbled, now picking up his goblet and sipping on it obnoxiously loud. The sound made my teeth grind.

"He's ignored me for two whole days now, does he think he can just do this without me?!" I complained, gripping my fork in my hand with enough force to bend the hard steel.

"We've all been busy, you know the first few days back are full on" he replied.

I rolled my eyes.

"Just..." Blaise started, before coughing on his drink.

I look to my left and find his eyes wide. I follow his stare to see Harper sitting next to Montague, her face awfully close to him as she whispers something into his ear. I knew that look. She was flirting with him.  Her hair was longer and she had opted for no make up which was unusual for her.

I look back at Blaise finding all colour washed from his face, his dark skin now shadowed by an eerily grey.

"Ignore her" I mumbled, glancing back at them quickly before finally tearing my eyes away from the ghastly pair and staring down at my empty plate.

I hadn't felt like eating anything since I returned, a pure sign of the battle crashing around in my head. It was like every dreadful emotions I had been ignoring over the holidays had come flooding back as soon as I walked through the familiar tall entrance doors to the castle.

I had cornered Draco on our first day back and casually asked him when he wanted to meet next. For a flicker of a second he looked happy to see me and then his gaze wandered to my chest and his eyes turned cold as he saw my necklace. The ring he bought for me hanging proudly from the silver chain.

He pushed me out the way without saying a word.

He had avoided me ever since.

I felt my stomach turn as I watched Blaise fill his goblet up with more juice.

My nerves were rattled from the obvious change of atmosphere in the Slytherin house. It was like every sixth year Slytherin knew about the darkness emerging on the horizon. The fact that Harper had easily slipped into their ranks was enough for rumours to drip down the grapevine and into the rest of the school.

There were only a few of us in Slytherin that had not chosen sides, the students that tried to ignore the switch in dynamics. Blaise and I being two of them.

Snapping me out of my daze, Blaise placed a piece of dry toast on my plate in front of me.

"Eat" he ordered, before munching on his own slice of toast.

I stared down at my plate, my throat suddenly feeling extremely dry and hoarse.

I picked up the toasted bread and took a small bite, letting the sharp crumbs slide down my dry throat.

"Zabini, how have you been?" a gruff voice interrupted. I look up to find Theodore Nott, sliding into the bench opposite us, a charming smile on his tanned handsome face.

I frowned. Why was he talking to Blaise?

"Nott, you're back?" Blaise said in greeting. I watched as Blaise and Nott talked animatedly about Nott's travels, my mind gave up following as soon as they started to talk about Quidditch.

I had no idea they were friends.

An ache started to appear at the base of my skull, I clenched my eyes as the pain started to grow stronger.

I picked myself up off the bench, leaving my half-eaten toast on my plate. Blaise looks up at my sudden movement, his eyes bright with worry.

"I have a headache, I'm going to go lie down. I'll meet you before Charms" I mumbled, giving him a small smile and nodding to Nott before I left.

My headache grew stronger as I made my way out of the Great Hall and down the corridor towards the Dungeons. I was in a sort of daze, my eyes drawn to the darkness of the floor, my hands clenched at my sides as I hurried to the common room. I surprised myself when I ran straight into a tall body, blocking the portrait door into Slytherin.

"Hmmph" I grunted, my hands finding balance wherever I could. I grabbed onto the person's arms as they caught me.

I looked up, squinting slightly as my headache pounded beneath my eyes.

Draco.

Of course.

I groaned and pushed him off me.

"Nope, not dealing with this right now" I complained, as I took a step backwards. My balance slightly faltered at the movement and my vision spun.

"Woah Flint, steady on"

I started to tilt to the side, my headache now grinding into a migraine.

Draco's arms caught me before I stumbled again, his hands enveloping my elbows. My palms pressed against his forearms as I righted myself, blinking slowly to focus on him in front of me.

After a few seconds of slow blinking and squinting, I found Draco's silver eyes searching my face with worry. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his skin seemed paler than usual.

"I'm fine" I muttered, trying to pull my arms out of his.

He gripped harder.

"You're not fine, let me take you to Madame Pomfrey" he ordered.

If the very motion of rolling my eyes didn't make me feel sick I would have. Instead I groaned and managed to pull one hand out of his to massage my temples.

"I just have a migraine" I mumbled, the small pressure from my fingers slightly easing the thumping.

"Do you get those often?" he asked curiously.

I opened my eyes and did my best impression of a glare.

I groaned at the attempt.

"Sometimes" I managed to whisper.

"Well at least let me help you get to your room, you look like you're about to faint or be sick" he mumbled, his tone slightly demanding and oppressive.

"Ok" I whispered, all energy to fight with him had disappeared. All I needed right now was a dark room.

He held my elbow with one hand and wrapped the other around my waist as he led me into the common room.

I couldn't help but groan loudly as the fluorescent lights of the common room made my eyes feel like flash bombs had just gone off.

Draco hurriedly ushered me along to the dorm rooms but instead of turning right and towards the girls rooms, he steered me left.

"What are you doing?" I managed to spit out, squinting my eyes against the dull sconces lining the corridors.

"You can stay in my room, that way no one will disturb you" he muttered, a slight annoyance in his tone.

I didn't argue, he had a point. If I went back to my room, I would have the girls coming in and out all morning, I needed a dark and quiet room for a few hours.

Once we got to his room, he let go of my elbow but kept his hand on my waist to open the door. The room's scones were burning a golden light but he instantly flicked his wand and they vanished. The sudden darkness instantly made my eyes relax.

He guided me towards his bed and sat me down. I closed my eyes and inwardly sighed at the peace and quiet already soothing my headache. There was still a nauseous pounding at the back of my skull but the darkness helped.

"Lie down" Draco ordered, keeping his voice low and soft.

I obeyed his orders and set my head softly on his pillow, lifting my legs up and laying them down on his bed. Surprisingly the soft scent of his aftershave on his pillow was comforting.

"You can stay here for as long as you want, I'll come back at lunch to see if you're ok" he mumbled from my side.

I kept my eyes closed so I didn't know what he was doing but after a few minutes I heard him leave the room.

Draco's POV

She looked as bad as I felt.

I didn't want to leave her in that state but I knew from previous experience, that with migraine's the only thing to do was lie down in a dark and solace. After class I was going to run to Madam Pomfrey and grab a sleeping draught for her. Normally that helps.

I tried so hard to avoid her the last couple of days. I didn't want her helping me, not after seeing that poor man crumbled up cold and dead in my dining room. I couldn't let that be her.

I also couldn't be seen with her, now that 90% of my friends were involved with the Dark Lord. I couldn't give them a reason to think I cared about Aster and for them to inform the Dark Lord about her. She was too powerful for her own good, she had no idea how much her influence was desired amongst them all.

Luckily I was running late to breakfast this morning, so very few students were out and about in the common room when I bumped into her. I made sure no one noticed us when I guided her to my room.

I had to be more careful though.

---

Once I managed to effectively steal a sleeping draught from Madam Pomfrey's inventory, I quickly rushed to my room.

I silently opened my door to find the room still pitch black. In the shadows casted by the small window that looked out into the Black Lake I could make out the shadow of Aster still sleeping on my bed.

Climbing into my bed quietly, I nestled myself in next to her, careful to not wake her.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she slept, she looked frustrated. At the thought of her being upset, I gracefully pulled her into my chest. She unconsciously swiveled her body towards me and moaned as she burrowed her head into my chest.

I willed my heartbeat to slow down.

Her eyebrows remained wrinkled, but she let out a soft moan again, the sound vibrating against my school shirt and into my chest.

I closed my eyes and let the heaviness of her body sink me into slumber.

---

A yell woke me from my dreamless sleep.

Aster was screaming.

My eyes found her instantly, her body wriggling drastically to my left, her arms thrashing around and hitting my torso.

Her eyes were closed.

She was having a nightmare.

"Aster" I whispered, climbing on top of her and grappling her arms to stop from hurting herself.

She wriggled underneath me still, her eyes squinting in her sleep, her muffled screams turning into words.

"Stop!" she cries, tears dripping down her red cheeks.

"Ast, please wake up, you're having a nightmare" I murmur, trying to lessen the grip I had on her.

"Please, why are you doing this?" she continues.

I release one of her arms and cup her cheek, stroking my thumb on the redness now blooming on her face. She stops screaming but doesn't wake up, so I press my lips against her cheek and kiss away the tears.

She finally stops wriggling underneath me.

I stop kissing her face and look up, her eyes flutter open.

"Draco?" She murmurs, blinking away the tears from her bright green eyes.

"Ast, you were having a nightmare" I murmur softly, keeping my hand on her cheek.

She looks down and finds me straddling her, her eyes flicker back up to my face, confusion now replaces the furrowed look she had in her nightmare.

"I'm ok" she whispers.

I climb off her small body and sit down next to her, still watching as she looks around the room in confusion.

"You had a migraine, I let you sleep here" I explain.

She nods in understanding, and pulls herself up from the pillow, leaning herself against the bedframe.

"I remember, sorry" she mumbles, wiping her eyes with her school jumper.

"I got you a sleeping draught" I tell her, grabbing the small phial from my bedside table and offering it to her.

She shakes her head.

"I don't want to go back to sleep" she murmurs, rubbing her eyes more.

"Well if you need it, its here" I say, placing it back on the bedside table.

"What was your nightmare about?" I ask nervously.

She squints her eyes as if trying to remember and I watch as she opens them, her round green eyes scanning the room instead. They stop on the empty guitar stand in the corner.

"I stole your guitar"

I look at her confused.

"What?"

"I took your guitar home in the holidays...." her cheeks go back to a pale pink but I can tell she's blushing from the admission, "I have it in my room, I've been meaning to give it back to you".

"Why?" I ask, slightly amused, a smirk growing on my face.

She finally looks at me with this question. She see's my smirk and a corner of her lip rises up.

"I don't know.." she admits truthfully, her eyes growing distant as she delves into her thoughts.

I chuckle.

"Do you know how to play?" I ask her, shuffling towards her more.

We were both sat upright on my bed, our legs pressed up against each other.

She takes this as an invitation to nestle her head into my neck, a soft sigh leaving her lips.

"No" she whispers, her voice sounds exhausted, her nightmare must have tired her out even more.

"I'll teach you" I whisper back.

A/N I'm sorry I really enjoy writing soft Draco 😅 but dw this will not take away from the angst and toxicity that will arise in the upcoming chapters 😏

What do you guys think Asters nightmare was about?