A true gentleman would never make a girl cry.
If you want to leave a mark on a girl's heart, then you must be the one who allows her to reveal her most vulnerable side in front of you.
Gentlemen make girls like them. Bad boys make girls fall in love.
And now, without even realizing it, Draco seemed to have become the latter...
At this moment, Draco neither explained himself nor offered any comfort. Instead, he had outright made Astoria cry. If there had been a third person present, they would no doubt have harshly criticized him, perhaps even looked down on him.
What was strange, though, was that after venting her emotions, Astoria's first instinct wasn't to flee from him. Nor was it to strike him physically and force him to forget what had just happened.
Astoria, who looked so fragile, stayed.
After silently finishing the unbearably awful cup of Gurdyroot Infusion in her hands, she spoke hesitantly.
"An… another cup."
Seeing that she had finally calmed down, Draco poured her a fresh cup of Gurdyroot Infusion before speaking again, his voice unhurried.
"Tell me about this Blood Curse."
"Huh?"
Astoria jerked her head up, staring blankly at Draco, who was calmly sipping his own Gurdyroot Infusion.
"I did spend some time looking into it," he continued, "but hearing the details directly from the person involved is far more reliable."
"Do… do you even know what you're saying?"
"In fact, I already have a general direction," Draco replied. "I just need more information to be sure..."
Listening to Draco's thoughts, and sneaking a glance at his tightly furrowed brows, Astoria's eyes held more than just conflicted emotion. There was also a softness she herself hadn't realized had taken root.
She had already stopped paying close attention to what Draco was saying. Cradling her teacup carefully, she took another small sip, her thoughts drifting.
'Why go this far? Even… even if I'm just a follower, there's no need to do this much.'
...
Just as Astoria was listening to Draco speak, the door was suddenly pushed open without any warning...
Click!
In truth, there were very few people who could enter this room without knocking. Aside from Draco's parents, there was only his rather dim-witted childhood friend.
The only person who could treat Malfoy Manor as her own home was Pansy, who had placed her entire heart on Draco from a very young age.
With Narcissa's deliberate arrangements, combined with the status of being his childhood friend, Pansy was practically the Malfoy family's child bride. This was something that could be clearly seen from the way Draco treated her.
After all, if just anyone dared to push open his bedroom door, Draco, with his habitually domineering personality, would have already fired off a Sectumsempra. In a way, it was something Astoria couldn't help but envy.
After all, she had knocked when she came in just now...
Only, as that thought crossed her mind, Astoria seemed to forget what state she was currently in.
Her robes were slightly disheveled from her emotional outburst. Her eyes were faintly red, still holding a trace of moisture. Paired with the way she clutched her teacup while wearing a miserable expression, anyone would think she was a poor little secretary who had just been bullied by an overbearing CEO.
Now that this embarrassing scene had been witnessed by Pansy, Astoria's expression looked on the verge of collapsing.
Seeing this, Pansy's eyes widened, and she added fuel to the fire.
"Draco, did you bully Greengrass?"
Goyle and Crabbe, who had been about to step into the room, immediately took a large step back, as if they had just spotted a dragon lying in wait inside.
Astoria turned her head stiffly to look at the intruders. The smile she had been about to put on froze instantly, and the teacup in her hand nearly slipped from her grasp...
As for the other party involved, Draco was already complaining furiously in his head.
'How did you even come to that conclusion?!'
Not wanting to take the blame, Draco pushed his teacup away irritably.
The cup floated up, spun once in the air, and then settled neatly onto the equally floating saucer. Only then did Draco glare at the foolish girl who was talking nonsense.
"Stop spouting rubbish. Come over and sit down."
"Oh."
"And you two, hurry up and get in here."
"Yes!!"
Realizing she had misunderstood, Pansy stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. Goyle and Crabbe also filed in obediently, like well-behaved children.
Naturally, Draco had no intention of explaining what had just happened, which made Astoria quietly let out a sigh of relief.
However, as Astoria took another sip of the Gurdyroot Infusion, which seemed to have a lingering aftertaste, she failed to notice the strange look Pansy was giving her.
Drinking tea that glowed green and still smiling?
That really wasn't normal at all...
...
In reality, the reason Pansy and the others had come to see Draco was because he had specifically instructed them to do so when they parted ways after dinner.
What Pansy hadn't expected was that Astoria, whom they had been unable to find, had secretly gotten there ahead of her.
Who knew how long Astoria had already been in Draco's room before they arrived, or what the two of them had talked about.
Thinking of this, a sense of having been beaten to the punch rose up in Pansy's heart...
Draco, of course, had no idea what Pansy was thinking. After everyone had found a place to sit, he lowered his voice and called out.
"Dobby."
Crack!
"Young Master?"
"For the time being, don't let anyone disturb us. And don't give anyone else a chance to overhear what we're talking about."
"...Including... Master Lucius?"
"Yes."
"Dobby... Dobby... sniff, Dobby understands!"
Crack!
After hesitating for a moment, clearly torn, Dobby disappeared from the room before he could burst into tears, his long ears drooping as everyone watched.
The sight made Pansy open her mouth wide in disbelief.
Even though Dobby hadn't explicitly said whether it could be done, even Goyle and Crabbe, who usually only thought about food, could tell that Dobby was about to carry out Draco's orders...
Having a house-elf keep watch over its own master?
Pansy gave Draco a strange look.
"I really want to know what's going on with that house-elf, but maybe you should first tell us why you called us here."
With Hermione absent and Astoria clearly not in the best condition, the task of bringing up the topic naturally fell to Pansy, who usually served as the group's mascot. As for Goyle and Crabbe standing by the door, there was no point expecting them to use their brains at all...
...
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