#drucy

               Wasn't it bad enough that he was damaged, that she was damaged? Why did she have to waltz into his life exactly when he didn't need her?

               Still, any sensible man didn't pass up a dance and a drink at his only son's wedding.

               And if Astoria weren't looking, then all the better, because Draco was better friends than lovers with her, anyway.

               Still, Lucy Weasley was a bad choice. She was as bad as they came. She messed up her sister's and cousins' relationships by accident and sometimes on purpose. She couldn't wave a wand worth a Knut. She had even said that maybe she would've been better off a Squib.

               But Lucy sure was pretty with her rust-colored hair and oak brown eyes and smile that was just a little too devious.

               Still, she was the only one who danced with him at Scorpius and Rose's wedding.

               "You're not all that scary," she whispered as they slow-danced to some Celestina Warbeck song.

               "Still, I'm not the kind of company one usually keeps," Draco replied, twirling her out as the songs changed.

               "Then what are you?"

               "Damaged goods."

               It might've been the sick thing to say, but he said it because it was true. And, yet, Lucy didn't buy that. "If that's the case, then how come Scorpius turned out okay? And how come you're still alive?"

               Draco blinked. Good question. But did Lucy have to ask it? Anyone else but this straightforward, beautiful witch…

               It was just one night. It was just one night in one of the rooms in the reception hall when no one was looking, and it was never supposed to be anything more than that one night.

               But she was a star that scorched him worse than the sun. She was blazing white and blue and burning him through and through…not that he minded.

               Because, because when the one night turned into another a few days later, and then he saw her more in the following weeks, his feelings about his placid, stay-out-of-the-spotlight life began to change.

               Suddenly it was all dates in the daytime and basking by the beach and living the lively life. Draco Malfoy was almost back to his old ways, and Lucy was up to her old tricks again. But a night at a reception does not create a romance, despite what all the time spent together said.

               "My family found out," she told him dispassionately one evening while stargazing.

               He paled. "And? What happened? Are you all right?" He squeezed her hand, but she didn't move her fingers.

               Lucy shrugged. "They were pissed and demanded something better of me, despite my having always been the 'problem child.'" She pulled her hand away and buttoned her cardigan. "So I said that I'd try to live the normal life for once." She stood.

               "What…do you mean?" Draco couldn't think. It had been a long time since he'd last had to think. Hadn't it been during the war when he'd last had to think? After it, he hadn't thought or felt. With Lucy, he'd begun to feel again.

               Lucy shrugged a second time. "Come on, Draco. This?" she asked, gesturing between them. "It was good while it lasted."

               "While it lasted…?"

               She brushed her hair over her shoulder, getting ready to leave. "You said I was a star before, once. Am I a shooting star?"

               He stayed silent.

               "I'm no shooting star, Draco. Shooting stars never disappear. They just travel forever, always on an adventure." She turned abruptly and kissed him hard on the lips—the last time she'd ever scorch him. Then she pulled away and stared at him for a while. "But I'm a blue giant, luv. I'm white-hot, and I've burned myself up. The age of the old Lucy Weasley is fading out now." She patted his shoulder. "It was good while it lasted," she reiterated.

               Draco could do nothing as she Disapparated, leaving him alone in a Muggle park. He couldn't look up at the stars again, not after what had just happened and what she'd said.

               But if he still had any doubts about his being damaged goods, they disappeared. He knew the world had finally gotten its payback for all the trouble he'd caused, even if it had been a lifetime ago…long before one night in a reception hall.

Angsty! :O This stuff can be fun to write, after having taken an astronomy class recently… What an interesting idea about Lucy's perception of herself, though. :O A little sad about Draco's opinions of himself, though… :( Ah, well. It'd been so long since I'd first written Drucy, though… 0.0

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew