Title: Blatant Lies
Author: scarletladyy
Pairing: Draco/Astoria
Word Count: 2,614
Rating: R
Warnings: Use of magical drugs
Summary: With everything Draco's been through, it's not surprising when he just can't cope anymore, but the reality is, Astoria can't cope anymore either.
Author's Notes: Written for dysfuncentine 2011. Thank you to my beta leigh_adams.

Standing awkwardly near the bedroom door, Astoria tapped her foot idly in sync with the rain outside. She stood avidly watching Draco, who had been staring out of the window for more than five minutes now, having fled into the Manor in a rage. She didn't know what to do or say, not wanting to make the situation worse, and contemplated leaving him for some alone time.

"Stop that," Draco snapped, turning and nodding his head towards her dancing foot. His stony face settled once more over the luxurious gardens, apparently searching for an answer to something.

Astoria placed her feet tightly together, speaking so softly she was surprised she could be heard. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"All anyone ever sees when they look at me," Draco thrust up the shirt sleeve of his left arm, "is this."The Dark Mark stood out against his pale skin, a symbol of a time they'd both rather forget. "There's nothing I can fucking do about it, no matter how many good deeds I do." He ran his fingers roughly through his ever growing blond hair, clutching tightly onto the strands at the end. "Perhaps... Perhaps it's not worth it."

"Don't say that!" Astoria ran forward, placing a comforting arm on her husbands, desperate for him to see that this, what he was doing now, was far from being not worth it. It was the only thing Draco could do in the world that would gain him some credibility, even if it did mean he had to work alongside the golden trio he'd despised for a decade. "Never say that. This is more than you could have hoped for, Draco. You were reprieved —"

"On the testimony of Harry fucking Potter." The name spat out of Draco's mouth like an out of date piece of fruit, sour and unwanted. "Do you know what Granger said to me today? Do you?"

Astoria shook her head sadly and tightened her grip on his arm. "No."

"She said I'd have to get used to the fact that people were going to question me being in a position of authority. How long is this going to last, Astoria?" Draco's eyes widened, and he pulled his arm out of her grasp with force enough to make her gasp. Thundering towards the door, he glared mercilessly at her. "How fucking long?"

It didn't matter that Astoria didn't have an answer to that question, for Draco had left the room before she could even take in his last words. They'd both known it wouldn't be easy, that the path they'd have to take would be rough and uneven, but Astoria honestly hadn't realised Draco would take such comments to heart. Perhaps it was showing that he was finally growing up, and grasping the true reality of life.

Or, maybe, one could argue, he'd already seen that when his mother died at the hands of his 'accomplices'.

*

"Why are we here, Draco?" Astoria asked gently, seating herself on the rickety wooden stool at the table Draco had chosen. She looked around warily, her eyes momentarily stopping on a toothy drunk who nodded at her. Glaring at him, she drew closer into herself and played with the rim of her empty glass. "Why have you brought us to a Muggle pub?"

"Because nobody here looks at me like I'm the scum of the earth," Draco sneered, downing the rest of his pint in one go. Sure, there hadn't been much left, but Draco had always been one to drink slowly. "Another?"

"Well, I —" Astoria was cut off by Draco already heading towards the bar, grabbing another beer for himself and a large glass of wine for Astoria. Right now, wine was the last thing on her mind; she didn't want to get so drunk in a place where half the men looked as though they were going to pounce on her. Without something better to do, Astoria watched the exchange between Draco and the barman, her eyes focusing on the small package that Draco was being passed.

"Alright, love?"

Astoria was pulled out of her gaze by the man with the toothy grin, who'd moved his own stool surprisingly nearer to her. Confused, and wanting desperately to know what was going on with Draco, she turned her attentions back to the bar, but Draco wasn't there anymore. The drinks he'd ordered, however, were stood there, waiting for him to return.

"If I was that bloke o'yours, I wouldn't've left you alone." The man held out a grubby hand, causing Astoria to edge her own stool backwards.

"Do you mind?" she said rudely, tapping her feet on the wooden floor and anxiously awaiting Draco's return. Finally, just when the man was about to say something just as creepy, if not more so, than his last sentence, Draco appeared from the toilets and grabbed the drinks off the bar. He nodded curtly towards the barman,who smiled slyly at him, before heading back over to her.

"Keep your distance," Draco snarled to the man with the toothy grin, forcing him to retreat to his earlier placement. Draco passed her the new glass of wine, which she set softly in the centre of the table.

Astoria chewed her lip as she spoke, nervous about Draco's unpredictable reaction to her upcoming question. "What was all that about, at the bar?"

"What do you mean?" Draco looked genuinely confused as he took a sip of his pint, drinking with his usual pace once more.

"Well, I mean, I thought I saw —" Astoria started, but was quickly cut off.

Draco glared at her with his steely grey eyes as she said darkly, "You saw nothing."

*

It'd been a few days since Astoria had last seen Draco. She'd wanted to give him some time to cool off and properly think about his situation, hopefully coming to the conclusion that it was the best he was going to get. For now, anyway, she thought, as she walked the last few feet of the driveway up to Malfoy Manor, where she noticed a house-elf tidying up the plants outside.

"Miss Astoria." The house-elf bowed at her presence, making her slightly uncomfortable. "I think Master Malfoy is in his bedroom."

"Thank you." Astoria stepped into the draughty Manor, and where once it had felt alive and dripping with people, it now appeared lonely and forgotten. The presence that had been Lucius Malfoy, a man always careful to greet her with respect, was long gone, spending his years in Azkaban for his crimes. The sentence was a little too harsh, Astoria thought, particularly since it seemed that Draco needed his fathers guidance now more than ever before.

The staircase creaked under her heels, and she was glad to reach the carpeting of the hallway that led her straight into Draco's room. The door was ajar, and as she peered in she got the shock of her life, gasping loudly. "What on earth —?"

Draco looked up from his kneeling position by the bed, completely shocked and with bits of powder under his nose. There, on the bed in front of him, was a piece of cardboard, and a large pile of baby blue powder that signalled Draco had begun to take the only known magical drug. "Astoria, I..." His confusion quickly turned to anger, his face growing red as he wiped the powder from underneath his nose. "Don't you ever knock?"

"But... I..." started Astoria, only to find the bedroom door being slammed in her face. For several seconds she stood there, aghast, then dragged herself downstairs to the living room where she awaited his company, hoping beyond all hope that he had a better explanation than that he was now a druggie.

The minutes passed, the ticking of the grandfather clock grating on her nerves, when at last Draco came down the stairs with his hands in his pockets, a meaning of purpose in his eyes. Sitting on the sofa opposite her, he leant forward with his elbows on his knees and looked directly into her eyes.

"You didn't see what you thought you saw," Draco said simply. "It was a one off. Greg gave it to me, said it would relax my nerves. I was just trying it out."

Astoria clicked her tongue before speaking, attempting to remain calm. "You mean to tell me that this is the first time you've taken those?"

"Yes." Draco nodded as sincerely as he possibly could, and if it were anyone else, Astoria would have believed them. But this was Draco, and she could tell when he was lying.

"You're a liar, Draco. That's where you went the other night in the pub, isn't it? To take some of that powder?" Draco stared blankly at her, but he didn't deny it, presumably seeing it would be fruitless. She sighed heavily. "I lost my cousin to that drug, Draco. You know that. I can't believe you would —"

"I wanted to feel different, alright?" Draco snapped, jumping up from the sofa. "I just didn't want to feel like shit for once! Is that alright with you?"

"Don't do this, Draco, please," Astoria stressed, tears forming in her eyes. She'd already lost someone close to her because of that vile thing, and she didn't want to lose another. "I can't see you go down this route. I love you, but..."

"But what?" Draco sneered, glaring at her venomously, as though she'd wronged him deeply. "You're saying you don't want to marry me now, is that it? Go on, then. Make my life a whole lot better." Astoria stared at the floor quietly, jumping slightly when his voice grew louder. "Just fucking do it, already!"

"No, I..." Astoria started to sob. "I don't want to leave you, but you have to promise me that you'll stop. You can't be addicted yet, surely? In the pub, that was your first time..." She knew she was trying to convince herself, knowing deep down that it had to have been at the very least his second time, for he knew where to get it. But, as long as she didn't hear those words, she could pretend it wasn't as bad as she feared.

Draco sat down on the sofa next to her and shook his head sadly. "It's been on and off for a couple of months now." When Astoria let out a loud cry, Draco edged closer to her and put his arm round her back, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered, just as she moved her head, his lips connecting with hers.

For that second, Astoria forgot everything. She forgot about the stares, the whispers, the gossip and the drugs. She forgot that Draco had wronged her, that he was throwing his life away, and she kissed him with as much passion as the first time they'd kissed four years ago. The feeling and connection that she had with him right at that moment was just what she needed, and she gently pushed him backwards onto the sofa, forcing him to lie down.

"Astoria..." Draco started, but she placed a finger on his lips and began to undo his shirt buttons. Struggling with the fifth one, she gave up and pulled the whole thing apart. She wasted no time in shuffling backwards and undoing his belt buckle, only pulling his trousers and boxers down to his knees. He didn't need to be any more naked than that, and she didn't want him to be.

Like this, Draco was untouched and unblemished, free from any reminders of the past he'd endured, and the future he was forcing onto her. Like this, Draco was the horny teenager who was ever so clumsy when he'd first fucked her, and that's all Astoria wanted. Like this, Astoria could forget, and focus entirely on the raging hard on she'd been greeted with.

"Are you —?"

With a forceful motion, Astoria took his whole length in her mouth, eliciting a loud groan from him. She bobbed her head slowly up and down, dragging her tongue and letting it linger over his head. She let her eyes wander to his face, noticing that his eyes were closed, and he, like she, was forgetting everything and enjoying it like they were nothing more than teenagers in love again. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Astoria deep-throated Draco's hard prick, and he was unable to keep from crying out in pleasure; he always had been loud during sex, a trait his father had never approved of.

Astoria's left hand cupped his balls, tightening them at the same time as she took him as far in her mouth as she could, and loosening her grip as she came back up for air. Softly she licked around his head, taking extra care to focus on his more sensitive parts. Growing wet herself, Astoria knew she couldn't wait much longer to be fucked, and deep throated Draco one more time before removing her mouth completely. A single kiss on the top of his cock, as she always did, signalled that that part of the sex was over with.

"You can't just —" panted Draco, but stopped when he opened his eyes to see her hiking up her robes and pulling her knickers aside. With a wink, she squatted over his cock, placing him into her pussy with ease due to her natural lubrications.

"God, Draco," Astoria moaned, placing both her hands on Draco's bare chest and pulling herself up and down over his cock. While it wasn't exactly his favourite position, Astoria loved being on top, and if nothing else, he owed her that. She playfully tweaked his nipples as she increased her pace, her own breathing rapidly becoming louder as she grew closer to orgasm.

Bending forwards and shuffling about, Astoria placed her head next to Draco's and continued to fuck him with a quick pace, whispering softly into his ear, "I'll never forget you."

"You bloody couldn't if you tried," Draco groaned, his words a little strained as he attempted to keep his voice down. His hand snaked down between their bodies, resting on her clit and toying with it as she upped her pace. Her eyes closed, she felt herself near the brink of pleasure as his index finger worked tirelessly on her little nub, eventually sending her into one of the best orgasms she'd ever had.

"Fucking hell," Astoria panted as she rode out her climax, straightening herself once more and using Draco's chest for heavy support. With another tweak of his nipples, Draco erupted inside her, and they both came down off their high together, slowly, unlike how they were as clumsy kids.

And that was when it all came back to Astoria. Everything Draco had done, everything Draco would end up doing because of the powder, and that's when she got off him, sorting out her robes. "You're good, Draco. You've always been good." She didn't know what else to say, looking into his eyes sadly, realising that by leaving now, she was saving herself a whole lot of grief and heartache. Grabbing her handbag, she spoke softly, "Thanks. For Everything."

"Astoria, wait —"

But Astoria didn't wait. She didn't want to hear what Draco was going to say, how he was going to plead, and what he was going to promise her. She couldn't bear it, because the last words she'd heard from her cousin were "I promise I won't touch the stuff again, Astoria, I promise," and those were words she couldn't hear from Draco.

Not when they were such blatant lies.