A/N Hi guys! This one was a bit of a fun one. I'm still trying to find the right balance of plot and smut for you guys - How am I going?

Draco's POV

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

She was ignoring me. He head bowed over her textbook, her dark hair hanging in curtains around her face so I couldn't see her reaction.

"Aster...Flint...Merlin if I knew your middle name I would say it...stop ignoring me." I was livid. She knew baiting Montague was dangerous.

There was a few tense seconds.

"It's Bella" she murmured.

Of course it was.

Beautiful was her middle name.

I ignored the butterflies now swirling in my stomach.

"Don't encourage them to notice you. You don't want them to dig their dirty claws in" I whispered, the anger rolling off my tongue.

She instantly twists her head to face me, her green eyes furious.

"Don't tell me what I want, Malfoy" she spits.

We both glare at each other.

A slap on my shoulder knocks me from my attention.

"Party tonight in the common room Malfoy" Goyle grunted, his eyes flitting back and forth between Aster and I.

"What for?" I grumble back. The last thing I need is a party.

"End of our first week back, we always have one" he smirked, before heading back to his side of the table and sitting back next to Crabbe.

He glanced at me quickly before flicking his eyes towards Aster.

"Bring her" he mouths silently.

I roll my eyes at him.

I specifically told her to not draw attention to herself and what does she do? She goes and baits Montague of all people. We both heard what he said to Bainbridge after. He was talking about how she should have brought Aster with her to the dark lord.

Just the very thought of Aster and him being in the same room made my blood turn to ice.

"We should figure out what days we want to work on the assignment" Aster spoke, her tone was causal. She was still looking at her textbook but her hair had been tuck behind her ear. Her skin looked awfully pale.

"Uh yeah"

"How about Thursday afternoons after classes? Where do you want to meet?"

I was still staring at her. She still didn't look up.

"Library. Where I...took you last time" I whisper, I look down at my own textbook and shuffle in my seat.

This time I feel her stare.

I look up to find her eyes softly looking at my fingers on the textbook.

"Ok" she murmurs before ripping her eyes away and standing up.

"Let's start the first potion and then we can use that as our first point of reference next week" she rattles on.

I sit up straighter and nod.

—-

It's the first Friday night of the term. The Slytherin common room is already full, a loud bass thrumming through the large space from the gramophone in the corner. Someone's stocked the large coffee table with spiked drinks and snacks.

I grab a goblet and fill it with a bewitched bottle of fire whiskey disguised as pumpkin juice. I would have preferred a short glass but goblet's were less inconspicuous.

I return to my place and lean against the fireplace, switching my attention back to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Looks like Montagues got his eye on Bainbridge now, surprised he didn't latch onto her earlier" Goyle chuckles, nodding over to Bainbridge who was currently sitting on Montagues lap on the other side of the room.

"They're both as bad as each other" I grumble, removing my eyes from the sore sight.

Crabbe nods enthusiastically, a dumb look on his face.

"I always thought Montague would end up with Flint, she seems more his type..." Crabbe butts in. I give him a glare and I hear Goyle choke slightly on his drink. Crabbe's eyes widen and I watch as he panics. "I mean not really they're both half bloods, I was surprised he even showed Bainbridge a second of attention" he stumbles on his words as he rattles on.

"Fuck sake Crabbe I think blood status is the least of our worries at the moment" Goyle responds.

"Oh right yeah..." his eyes look around the room, "so like we can talk to half bloods now?" He dumbly asks.

I roll my eyes at his ignorance.

Goyle laughs and hits Crabbe around the head.

"Hey!" Crabbe yells out.

"You can talk to whoever the fuck you want Crabbe" I mumble, before taking another sip on my drink.

"I never can keep up with everyone's fucking rules" he grumbles under his breath before rubbing his head and walking away.

"You should go talk to Flint, she looks in need of company" Goyle says, his eyes lighting up with amusement.

"Fuck off, I can't be seen talking to her" I retort. I don't dare search the room for her.

"What? You just told Crabbe we can talk to whoever, does that not apply to you?"

I narrow my eyes at him.

"I can't talk to her in front of these idiots..."

I feel his stare at my face, but I ignore him and drink more.

"I assume she knows...about your.." he points to his forearm.

"Yes"

"And she's not in on everything right? I haven't seen her dad at any of the meetings" he concludes.

"No she's not and I would like it to stay that way"

"Huh" Goyle tuts.

I narrow my eyes at him again.

"You want to protect her" he prods.

I grip the goblet in my hand tighter and turn my gaze elsewhere.

"This is the real thing for you isn't it?" His tone is softer, more sympathetic.

It makes my blood boil.

"Fuck off Goyle" is the only reply I can come up with.

"Are you still seeing her?"

I look into my goblet and focus on the golden liquid swirling around.

"Maybe you shouldn't see her" Goyle interrupts.

I look over and find Goyle staring at Bulstrode. His eyes soften as the girl flicks her thick black hair over her shoulder and laughs at something Pansy says.

"Did you break up with Millie?" I ask him.

"Yep but she knows why. She said she'll wait for me"

I scoff at this.

He turns his gaze back at me, daggers shooting from his eyes.

"You really think everything will be normal when he's in charge? You think he will let you be with her?" I laugh at his naivety.

"She's a pure blood, I can be with her if I want" he snaps back.

"If she survives this war.." I mumble and down the rest of my drink, letting the drink burn the back of my throat.

Aster's POV

The first thing I see is Harper lounging on Montague's lap. I instantly, pull Blaise away from the sight and push him towards the other side of the room, careful to keep his eyes elsewhere.

I wonder what happened to Fred?

Looks like she's moved on.

Blaise grumbles a bit but before he twists around, I grab a goblet and fill it with fire whisky. The hot spiced smell instantly reminds me of Draco.

"Here, drink" I urge, shoving the goblet in his hands. He raises an eyebrow at me but brings the goblet to his lips anyway.

"We both need to relax" I explain, grabbing a goblet for myself and filling it with a bewitched bottle of red current rum.

I sip on the smooth sweet liquid while nudging Blaise towards a couch opposite the fireplace. Malfoy stands tall against the stone wall talking to Goyle, Goyle looks up, his wide eyes spotting me nd I watch as he mentions something that makes Malfoy go stiff.

The leather couch is occupied, Nott sits in the middle and on his left sits a fifth year I don't know the name of. I shove Blaise  in the last empty spot next to Nott and perch myself on the armrest instead.

"Hey Zabini, Flint" Nott greets us with a short nod and a broad smile.

I nod back before gulping down half of my drink.

"What happened to Bainbridge?" Nott asks Blaise. I watch as Blaise's eyes flicker around the room. He can't see Harper from where he's sitting.

"She wants nothing to do with us anymore" I answer for him, bringing the cool goblet up to my lips again.

Nott's eyebrows crinkle. He had adopted a nice tan while he was away, it made his blue eyes stand out more.

"What happened?" he asked sincerely. It was odd speaking to Nott in this way, I had never had much to do with him but I suppose Blaise did.

"Dunno," I reply, giving him a shrug.

His eyebrows raise up and before he can question me again he looks over at Blaise and finds Blaise looking slightly ill.

Nott looks up at me from where he's sitting and gives me a questioning look, I look back at him sympathetically, trying to convey the sensitive topic that this was to Blaise. He seemed to understand and moved the conversation on to a new band he had seen while he was away.

I let myself listen to the conversation, laughing at the way Nott was telling his stories and letting Blaise fill more of my goblet up with rum. I was starting to feel the alcohol thrum through my veins, I let my body relax against the leather of the couch.

Suddenly, Malfoy dropped himself into the empty seat next to Nott, the fifth year had left only minutes ago. He draped one hand on the back of the couch and continued his conversation with Goyle who had now set himself up in the wingback armchair next to him. I tried to train my eyes on Blaise and Nott but they kept flickering towards Draco, he looked more relaxed then usual, his pale cheeks with flushed. He lifted his goblet up to his lips and I watched mesmerized as he licked his lips after his sip.

"Aster"

I switched my attention to the person saying my name.

Blaise stared back at me, an amused glint in his eyes.

"You alright?" he asks, teasing me.

"I'm perfect" I smirk back, bringing my arm to the back of the couch and resting in behind Blaise's head.

"Move" a shrill voice demanded behind me.

I flicked my head towards the whiney voice and found Pansy staring at me.

"What?" I cough, spilling my drink on my skirt.

"I want to sit here, move" she demands, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sitting here" I explain, giving her an incredulous look.

"Shuffle over, you can fit on the couch" she explains, giving me a devilish grin.

The rum was making me sleepy and I didn't have it in me to fight so I slipped off the arm of the chair and stood up.

"There's absolutely no more room on the couch" I complain, giving Pansy an evil eye.

"Sit on someone's lap" she shrugs, taking up my spot on the armchair and leaning over to speak to Blaise.

That's what she wanted.

I rolled my eyes as I watch her flirt with Blaise, Blaise completely oblivious to the incessant flirting happening right in front of him. Instead he replies politely to Pansy, while he swirls the liquid in his goblet.

I look around for a new place to sit but find none.

"You can sit on my lap" Nott speaks up, his tone friendly and his eyes sparkling.

My stomach flips.

"Um-" I start, before I see Draco twitch uncomfortably in his seat. I walk awkwardly towards Nott, stepping over a lone goblet on the floor but before I can turn around and sit myself on Nott's knee, a hand grabs my wrist and pulls me to the side.

"Just sit here" a grunt says as I find myself sitting on Draco's lap. He sits me on his leg nearest to the armchair but faces me inwards and towards Nott and Blaise, he leans back and I find him trying to look casual, an annoyed expression on his face.

Goyle chuckles and I feel my cheeks grow hot.

"Didn't know you were friends" Nott smirks at us both.

I wriggle awkwardly, trying to make the way I was sitting on Draco not look so intimate.

"Stop moving" he grunts behind me.

I look up and find Draco staring across me and at Goyle. I flick my attention back to Blaise, he was still talking to Pansy but his eyes kept finding mine. He cocked one eyebrow at me and I scowled back.

"We're not friends" I gruffly say to Nott.

Nott looks at me amused, his eyes twinkling.

"In that case, you free on Sunday? Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" He asks, a slight blush appearing on the tips of his cheeks.

I feel Draco still beneath me, and I watch his grip tighten on his goblet that he was resting in front of my leg.

"Um- "

Before I get a chance to answer, Blaise interrupts.

"You're asking Aster Flint on a date? Mate she doesn't do dates" Blaise chuckles. Pansy was now chatting to Millie standing next to her, but her hand was resting on Blaise's shoulder protectively.

"I thought I could be an exception" Nott smoothly replies.

I laugh awkwardly but stop abruptly when Draco's leg moves underneath me. He shifts slightly and I have to grab onto his shoulder to stop myself from toppling over.

"Sorry" I mumble before tearing my hand away from his shoulder.

"Just stop moving" he grumbles back.

"I would if you would stop moving. You told me to sit here" I spit back.

He looks back at my angrily, fire in his eyes.

"Oh" Nott interrupts.

I flick my attention back to him and find him staring at Draco and myself, his eyes narrowing in understanding.

"You guys are hooking up" he nods, as if his brain was finally putting together a complex puzzle.

"No-" we both answer quickly.

Fuck.

Nott looks at us with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Liars" he smiles.