China Doll

Part 60

Astoria POV:
The red angry lines stood out against his pale skin. Before I was even aware what I was doing, my fingers brushed along his jaw. He tensed slightly, before relaxing as he let loose a breath. I wasn't really aware of what he or his mother were doing, as I traced each mark with my featherlight touches of my fingertips.

"You idiot. You complete, utter moron." Couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? No small amount of rebellion, no matter how good it felt, could be worth this. Sure I'd seen worse. Heck, I'd made worse with my own two hands. But for some reason this was different. That a father could do this to his son was completely despicable.

"It's a good thing you're plenty smart for the both of us then. Though you jumping in front of me makes me question that." He turned his head back to look at me straight on. "What were you thinking anyway? You could have gotten seriously hurt."

I held in a scoff. "Oh right. What was I thinking? Because clearly, you had an amazing plan that consisted of snarky comments and getting beat. My bad. I'll just let him hit you!" I can't believe he was turning this on me.

"That's exactly what you should do! Do you have any clue of what he's capable of?"

"Yes! I have a pretty ugly clue of what he's capable of! Which is why you need to stop provoking the man!" When he let go of me and took a step back, I knew I was losing him. That scared me. I didn't want to lose another person. But it was worse to see him throwing himself in danger just for the thrill of it.

"What, so you want me to just take it? Let him say whatever he wants and get away with it? Let him control me until I don't know who I am anymore? You want me to be like you?" Draco hurled the words with deadly accuracy. I took an unsteady step back. He said it like being like me was the worst thing he could imagine. I didn't want him to be like me. I constantly felt battered. Beaten. Just on the edge of broken. But for him to say you with that face of disgust and rage.

"Draco!" He turned to look at his mother, who I think we both forgot was there. "Apologize! I didn't raise you to treat a lady with such disrespect!" No. No. If he apologized now it wouldn't be real. Pressured into it by his mother. He'd apologize with all the feeling of a block of wood and warmth of Umbridge's heart.

So before he could turn back to look at me. A blank slate with a fake apology at his lips, I ran. I ran like I always did. Confronted by the fake affections of Father and Mother's indifference. The next new thing Father pushed me into. I held my tongue and ran away to a happy place in my mind. A place where it was just me, the woods, and the stars.

I didn't really know my way around, but I assumed all Manor's had the same layout. It didn't matter where I was going anyway. As long as it was away.

I fought my way to the highest tower I could find. It was no Astronomy tower, but it would do. It was freezing out, but I couldn't find it in me to pull away from the window once I pushed it open. It was still early, barely 4:30, but the sun was already on the brink of setting. The room I was in looked abandoned. Neat and clean, but abandoned.

I climbed till I was sitting in the window. It was a bit of a struggle in the dress I was wearing without sending myself tumbling off the tower. I might have been depressed, but I wasn't suicidal. No matter how weak others thought I was, I still had the will to live. Dying would be too easy. The cowards way out, I told myself.

I didn't cry. Not this time. No. I just watched the sun set, and the stars come out. My age old friends, the stars. I didn't know if Draco knew my fascination with the night when he called me star, but it was a name I readily embraced. The smallest of lights in the darkest of times. A beauty unreachable and oh so far away from this awful world. Something I wanted to be.

I sat there for what was quite possibly hours. Thinking about nothing. Feeling nothing, and simply seeking peace. The sky as my home, the stars as my solace.

I was found by a disheveled maid. She burst into the room gasping for breath as though she'd ran the whole way up the tower. I merely glanced at her before returning my eyes to the sky. If she was here, then it meant I would have to leave. Leave the stars, the sky, the quiet, the calm. And I wanted to hold onto as much of it for as long as possible.

"M'lady! It's freezing out. Come in come in. We'll have to draw you a bath. You missed dinner, the masters aren't very happy about it, but we could probably get you a bite to eat. Come in! Come in!" The maid looked older than my mother, but had none of her daintiness. She quite effectively dragged me from the window, slamming it shut as soon as I was all the way inside,

"You'll catch your death hanging about like that. Come come. We'll get you a nice bath in no time." I didn't resist. Such a thing was futile. Such a thing was so like me. So dislikeable. So hated.

In the room there was no sign of Draco other than the rumpled coat in the middle of the bedroom floor. The maid immediately picked it up, clucking her tongue. "The young master and his temper. Such a sweet boy. But that temper of his could rival his father's." She said it with an affection that made my heart ache. She folded the coat and layed it over a chair. "Now to the bath with you." She shooed me into the large bathroom and began turning different knobs and adding different soaps in. She left me alone to undress and get in the tub, but swiftly returned with a nightgown I'd never laid eyes on before and underthings.

The time passed in silence on my part. She chatted occasionally about things that happened. Which maid was sweet on the new footman, and how the cook had a fight with the steward that morning because one of the servers misplaced a breakfast dish on the massive table. I soaked it all in. It wasn't the same as staring at the stars, but it was a sort of comfort that I was willing to relax in. She washed my hair for me, a luxury I hadn't had in years. I stood up and was rinsed off. She dried my hair with a spell and helped me dress. Another thing I was unused to.

After I had dressed, she wrapped me in a robe and shooed me into the main room. Pulling one of those tasseled ropes, she summoned a servant, brushed my hair, and pushed food into me with what one might call motherly affection. Something utterly foreign to me. Our old cook had acted similarly occasionally, but not with such abandon.

For the first time in what felt like years I unwound in the presence of another person. But all good things must come to an end. And this end was spurred by a blonde boy in black grumpily storming through the doorway. The maid fell silent almost immediately, both of us watching as Draco stomped into his closet. She patted my shoulder and put the hairbrush away. "Don't you worry about young master Malfoy. He's got a soft heart, he just doesn't like to show it. Now if you need anything, tell the footman outside that you need Old Gerta, and I'll come as fast as I can with some tea and my best storytelling voice. This old house can be oppressing, but we servants will always be there if you need a pick me up." When she hugged me, I nearly lost it. Draco came out of the closet and ignored both of us, going straight for the bed.

"Good luck dearie." Gerta whispered, and just like that, she was off again. Taking all my peace and calm with her.

I stayed seated in the comfortable armchair. Perhaps I could sleep here for the night. It wasn't anything I was used to, but surely anything was more comfortable than sharing a bed with Draco at the moment. Quietly, I whispered "Nox" and the lights went out.