Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir

Astoria and Theo Moodboard

Astoria and Pansy Moodboard

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“That sounds great.” Viktor’s own apartment was a mess right now so he was grateful when Astoria offered to meet at her place. He’d been there a few times and it would probably be easier for her to show off her paintings if she didn’t have to move them very far. Though he hoped Daphne wouldn’t be looking over their shoulder the whole time. “Perfect, it will make it easier to talk.”

He wasn’t sure of the etiquette around art galleries since he didn’t go to them often. He’d been to art museums and art galleries would be the same would they not? Did you have to stay sillent at galleries? Could you purchase any of the art? Viktor was pretty sure he’d heard something about that before. Astoria would surely tell him if he did anything wrong. It was with these questions that they entered and Viktor waiting on Astoria this time to lead the way.

“It does.” Her lips pressed together to a smile she gave him a small nod. She was surprised by how much had missed him while he was in Bulgaria, Astoria found herself wondering about what he was doing or if he was well many a time. They had written a few letters, but with her still being engaged to Draco she had to be conscious of that. Hopefully by the new year she’d be a free woman. “I would feel much more comfortable than at the Leaky Cauldron for example.” She did not want to worry about people listening in to their conversations, even if they did not say anything that could be considered wrong, she valued both his and her privacy. 

Astoria went ahead as they got into the gallery, bringing him to her favorite painting first and explaining the history behind it, giving more detail than the leaflet they had gotten did. She was an avid reader of art history. She had been talking about the same painting for a while until she realised that he must be bored to listen to her talk so much. “I apologise, we can move on to the next painting if you would like.”

He had to admit that seeing your boss outside of the office did feel a bit like seeing your teacher outside the classroom. Arthur couldn’t begrudge Astoria her shock. Especially since he was sitting on the ground with an incredibly odd looking object in his hands. At least the last part she’d gotten used to from the office.

“Hello Astoria!” He said as he gathered himself and stood up. Arthur almost considered using the kangaroo stick as a crutch but thought better of it. It seemed to be pressure activated.

“I believe its purpose is simply fun.” He said as he looked it over. “But it appears to be some sort of pressure activated transportation device.”

–

“Hello. It is nice to see you sir. Are you doing well?” Astoria smiled politely, not wanting to make a bad impression on her boss after he had caught her so off guard. She did not want to disappoint him or anything of that sort, but this stick seemed terrifying to her and she did not trust or understand it. 

“I do not understand, it is odd. It is for adults, right? Something like this seems to be terribly dangerous, I would not imagine it to be a safe transportation device for children.” They would surely get hurt if they fell off of it. Then again, Muggle parents would probably be afraid of their children on brooms so perhaps this was their equivalent to a broom?

Susan gave her a small but thankful smile, she’d always been grateful for Astoria’s friendship, but especially now. “You seem to be the only one who thinks so or sees what I see. I don’t think Hannah and Ernie don’t approve…” She admitted quietly before shrugging off the sad feeling that idea brought her. “Of course” Susan laughed at her friends surprise as if it wasn’t completely obvious. “I mean if you’d like to.” 

“I trust your judgement. You would not be with him or have agreed to marry him if he was a bad person.” Susan was one of the smartest people she knew and Astoria had complete fate in her best friend. “I am sure they will come around. Give them time.” She smiled, trying her best to be supportive. “I’d love to.”

“You too” Hermione smiled politely. She had been aware of Astoria around Hogwarts, but they had run in very different circles, and different years. The most she knew about Astoria was form what little gossip magazines she read. Which she tended to stay away from, they were just rubbish and usually spouted lies. “I didn’t realise you worked at the Ministry, what department are you in?”

Hermoine had always been someone she had admired in Hogwarts, top of all her classes and braver than she could ever be. Neither her parents or her former housemates would’ve been pleased if she admitted to that. “I work in the Muggle Artefacts department. Mr. Weasley is my boss. He’s a kind man. “

Theodore’s eyes shot up to meet Astoria’s, the pain this whole day had been clear on his face. “I didn’t attempt to hurt her in the first place. I would never intentionally hurt Daphne.” It made perfect sense that this is how Astoria saw him now, just another idiot boy who didn’t consider anyone else’s feelings. He couldn’t say that’s what he wasn’t. He had been an idiot boy who ran away from his emotions the second they became too much.

Not breaking the eye contact between them, Theo pressed on. “I don’t believe your sister and I have any plans to continue with what we were doing before I left so you have no need to warn me of anything.” His voice broke at those words and he swallowed harshly. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to go back to life with Daphne. When he had first gotten back this morning, his mind had been set. Daphne was not an option for him, not a good idea. Now, he wasn’t certain about anything. “Do you need help finding anything or would you like to talk more about all the ways I misstepped?”

Looking into his eyes she could see the regret clearly as if it was written on his forehead. She knew Theo, she had basically known him since she was a baby. When the parties their parents or any of their society friends threw they would hide out at the back of the room together. She never felt pressured to talk and he kept her company so neither of them could be punished for. being unsociable. She realised that she considered him a friend before he had dated her sister, so treating him like this wasn’t right. “I know you wouldn’t do it intentionally. I guess I just got protective.” An outburst like she had had a few minutes before was extremely out of character for her and she hoped he wouldn’t hold it against her. 

“I understand.” It was awkward and uncomfortable for both of them so she thought the best thing would be is to move on from talking about this. When he said that this wasn’t any of her business he’d been right. It was something Theo and her sister needed to discuss, she shouldn’t get involved. “I was actually looking for a book of wizarding sights in Paris or Marseilles.” She wanted to give it to Viktor since he had told her so much about Rumania and she found it fascinating, perhaps he would like this too. 

❐

A funeral for him. It was utterly ridiculous and Theodore knew if it had been thrown by anyone other than Daphne, it would have been ironic. Or mean spirited. An act of cruelty. For Daphne, it just showed she was truly in pain by his escape. “I suppose that means I won’t need one in the future then.”

Gaze still turned down, he shook his head at her words. “I’ve already seen your sister today and explained myself. Like I said, you have a right to be cross at me and say whatever you wish but there are some things that are personal. That is between Daphne and I.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” It wasn’t her place to get involved in the first place, she didn’t know why she had been so overcome with emotions. She wasn’t usually like this. Maybe because she got closer to her sister recently so she felt the need to be protective over her. Hearing Theo say that he had spoken to her already made her want to go find Daphne and check up on her, see how she had taken it all. “As long as you try not to hurt her again...”

Theo’s expression grew from guarded to blind confusion for a moment before he managed to return to his part of bookshop worker. “You have to be joking.” That was one of the wildest leaps he had ever heard. That his absence was caused by death and not education. If it hadn’t been for other things he had heard Daphne suggest, he would have known Astoria was lying to him. Invitations implied there had been a funeral and he opened his mouth to ask about that next but thought better of it.

Her pointed words had done it, what composure Theo had been struggling to maintain vanished the moment Astoria laid into him. His face fell, gaze along with it along the counter. Hands now tracing the patterns in the wood instead of doing anything of value. He breathed out, letting his head shake in his disbelief and astonishment all at once. “While I know you have a right to say these things, Astoria, I don’t think you fully understand the entire situation.”

She was quick to shake her head, her arms still crossed as she was upset with him. “I don’t joke.” Especially about a situation like that, it was rather tactless. A great sense of humor wasn’t one of the things she had inherited from her parents, she preferred to stand in the corner at parties instead of cracking jokes trying to get people to notice her. 

Being angry at someone wasn’t a feeling she was used to, except for maybe her parents at times but this was different. Astoria was quite out of her depth with the emotions she was currently experiencing. She felt bad for Daphne first and foremost. “Well then, feel free to explain it to me. I will take the time to listen.” 

Hermione had been so invested in her book that she hadn’t noticed any other attempts at grabbing her attention before the cough. “No, sorry I didn’t realise you were trying to talk to me” she said with a slightly embarassed laugh then nodded, pulling her bag off the spare seat at the table. “Of course, go for it. Not an inconvenience. Astoria, Right?”

It wasn’t surprising, Astoria rarely had people notice her as she did her best not to mak herself known and preferred to blend into the crowd. Truthfully she hadn’t expected for Hermoine Granger to know her name, so it took her a moment before she nodded. “Yes. It’s nice to officially meet you.” She knew of her of course and Viktor had mentioned her in passing before, but they hadn’t had a conversation before. “Thank you.” Astoria set down her tray before she sat down as well. 

Lunchtime. The one half hour a day Hermione forced herself to step away from her desk, only ever working through lunch when the days were really busy. Thankfully, today was not one of those days, and Hermione had the chance to leave her desk full of papers. She brought her book with her, something to keep her occupied while eating because annoyingly her ipod didn’t work in the Ministry, which never made sense to her, surely someone would have figured out the charms by now to fix that. She heard a cough in front of the table she was sitting at and looked up “Can I help you?” she asked. 

Usually Astoria had lunch with some of her colleagues, sitting silently while they talked about one thing or another, but she had wanted to finish her assignment and told them to go to lunch without her. So now here she was, looking for a place to sit when every table was occupied. It took her some time to find a free seat. She tried getting the other woman’s attention, wanting to ask if she could sit there, but she didn’t seem to hear her. So Astoria cleared her throat, relieved when she looked up. “Sorry. I did not mean to bother you. I was just wondering if I could sit here? If not it’s totally fine, I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“It was a interesting apology…” Susan chuckled thinking back to the evening that seemed forever ago and not a few week. “Thank you Astoria.” She smiled wanting to wrap her friend into a hug, but knowing the other would grown in disapproval if she did. “Now it’s time for you to lockdown Krum. My bridesmaids need dates.” 

“As long as you’re happy, I’ll support you. And Wade seems like a nice guy and I can tell he cares for you very much.” He had been in an arranged marriage agreement set up by his parents as well so Astoria felt some sort of kinship with him. He found love away from it all, perhaps she could as well. “We um.. we are meeting up again soon. He wants to see what I painted while he was gone. Wait...Bridesmaid?” 

@malfoythesnake​

The freedom that Draco felt when the annulment of their betrothal was official was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. He was careful to stay at his apartment, accepting only an owl from his father. He didn’t want to show his face in the manor because he was sure that his father wasn’t happy. God forbid they try to force him into another betrothal that he didn’t want. Draco didn’t have any patients to see at this particular moment, so he stood in one of the work rooms just reading a textbook that he had recently purchased. When there was a knock, he rose an eyebrow. When he heard Astoria on the other side, he sighed, but got up to open the door. “Greengrass, to what do I owe the pleasure? The engagement is over. You don’t have to speak to me again. So why are you here?” 

His reaction didn’t surprise her as she had never expected him to be happy to see her. He had not been so in the time of their engagement, so why should it change now that they were officially freed of one another? Astoria found it comforting that he behaved as he usually did. That had to mean his father did not hurt him, right? She didn’t think he’d have any visible injuries if he was at work so that was a good sign too. “I am aware that I do not have to be here and I am sorry for bothering you, but I came because I wanted to see if you were alright. I will not be staying long.”