Wild child

Throughout their life together, Astoria stayed close to him, taking care of all the little things he didn't have time for.Except for courtesy visits, she hardly ever set foot outside the Malfoy mansion.

There is only one exception.

One night in the seventh year of marriage, Draco sat at the small table in the master bedroom to read a book as usual after finishing his official duties.Ever since Astoria had started telling Scorpius Muggle fairy tales, it had always taken him a long time to put him to sleep.

It had been an unusually long day, and Draco looked up from behind his book when the bedroom door slammed softly, and her tired expression softened when she saw his smile.

Going to bed together is a silent agreement between the two.

"That kid isn't easy to deal with, huh?" Draco teased his wife snuggling beside him in the dark, the only way he would say that now.

"I bet you must have been more difficult than him when you were young, otherwise all this would be inexplicable. Merlin knows that I have always been a good girl, who else can he be like?" Astoria smiled The sound is close at hand.

Draco was taken aback, and a barely audible sigh escaped uncontrollably.

Then he felt Astoria get up abruptly, and regardless of his inquiry, hurriedly put on his shoes, put on his pajamas, opened the door and walked out quickly.

The door closed behind her, the beam of light narrowed and disappeared, and the room was once again plunged into darkness.Draco paused for a while without turning on the light, lay down again, put his hands behind his head, and crossed his legs.Even Astoria had never seen him like this. When he was forced to put his body like this, he was full of awkwardness. Unexpectedly, he was able to relax himself in this way after many years.

Those fleeting apparitions never really go away, and the past is always happy to be brought up, and Astoria made no complaints about it, even when she was all but forgotten by the public as a bride on the eve of their wedding .Draco was always grateful for that, and her unspoken understanding and support meant a lot to him beyond words.

But after tonight?

The next day Astoria disappeared from the mansion without leaving a word or taking anything with her, presumably by the fire in her bedroom.

Narcissa and Lucius had moved to other countries after he married and officially took over the position of head of the family, and now Astoria has also left, and the old mansion has become empty.Draco almost rushed into the small bedroom, and he was relieved to find that Scorpius had woken up and washed himself.

Scorpius is to Astoria what he is to Narcissa, and since Scorpius is still here, she will definitely come back—no matter what it is for.

He knew that he should go to her, beg her to come back, and tell her that his future is only related to her, but what he did was to reject all the entertainment and stay in the room to wait.He decides to accept the fate that any woman like Astoria deserves someone without the shadow of her past, and he has no position to hold back.

Or maybe it's just that after all these years he's still a coward, not even daring to try again.

For a week, it seemed that Draco's life was going on as usual, except that he would often find himself staring at the same page for long periods of time.The most frightening thing was that Scorpius had difficulty asking the phrase "Where's mother?", as a lump in his throat seemed to prevent him from answering.Fortunately, this only happened twice. Scorpius looked at him for a while with those gray eyes from the same blood as him, and obediently bowed his head to eat, and he didn't cry for a story the next night.No one told him what was going on, but children often knew it all by smelling it.

On the eighth day, Astoria returned.Hearing the sound of the door opening Draco rushed out of the room reflexively, stopping at the top of the steps, looking down at her slightly out of breath.He couldn't help but look for cold eyes, indifferent expressions, stiff body movements - any signal that meant separation.

She looked at him, and after several centuries, she came up and gently straightened his slightly messy robe—the result of sitting and spending the night last night.

"You look really bad," she said softly.

"You're back?"

"Yes, I'm back."

Draco gently held the hand that was adjusting his collar, and kissed tenderly, full of devotion and admiration.

He knew that from this moment on, he finally let go.

In the following decades, Draco, as the new Patriarch of Malfoy, gradually brought the name back to its former glory with his courageous style and increasingly smooth means, and he also became a legend among some people.

Before she left, she transferred all of her fledgling herbal medicine business to his name. Another person might take it as a handout and be furious, but he knew that she just didn't like to start a new one with old things. journey.It was a gift, and he could choose to ignore it or cherish it, and he chose the latter, and he had every reason to do so in every way.

After the development of this part of the industry, it is inevitable to need to deal with foreign businessmen, so he was able to understand her gradually growing reputation in this field.As the leader of a herbal medicine discovery team, Fanny Sanchez is well-known in the herbal medicine community for her excellent communication skills and decisive courage. She herself is also known as Falco for her precise and unreasonable style of playing cards and her distinctive patron saint image. That is falcon.

It suits her very well.

Compared with her international reputation, her domestic reputation is not obvious.Occasionally, someone will mention her name intentionally or unintentionally, it is nothing more than some romantic affairs, at first he will feel a little prickly in his heart, and then he will be relieved-of course she will not stop because of someone, the one he once loved And this is exactly what she always wants to see.

Only once in more than ten years, her name appeared in a place other than the gossip section of the Daily Prophet.A short article reported on the successful breeding of a very special herb, and she was on the team list.Draco's first reaction when he saw this name was confusion. He turned his eyes back to the group photo next to the title, and confirmed that she was indeed not there - presumably he insisted on being the one holding the camera in front.

After a moment of trance, he realized that the almost instinctive intuition and confidence to find her in the vast crowd had never disappeared.

So he played back the name several times in his mind, not without waves, but much smaller than he imagined.Some things will not completely dissipate, but just like the ink she splashed on his head as a prank when she was young, it was dazzling and shocking at first, and slowly faded into a blurred mark.

Another ten years have passed, and there is no further news from her.That group is still active in the field of herbalism, but the former leader is nowhere to be found.Draco knew she must be walking in some corner of this vast world, as if walking through the long corridors of Hogwarts, her steps were brisk, and her eyes that kept looking around were shining with fresh and curious light.

This is also good, very good.

He thought the world would just keep going, but no, that wasn't the way things were going when it came to her.Nearly 30 years after her disappearance, she was on the headlines and dominated the front pages for a week.

Great innovation or the beginning of disaster? ——The world's first unlimited school of magic was announced.

The school name is Infinite, infinite.

As the principal and founder, she rarely allowed reporters to take a few photos.Draco looked at her, and found that although he could bet with all his property that she must have been living without a fixed place these years, the years hadn't left many marks on her face—maybe heartless people don't The saying that it is easy to get old is not entirely unfounded.

It's like her being the first person in the world to do something; but a school?It was so unbelievable that he almost wanted to laugh.She is not one to take responsibility, especially in relation to other people.

What exactly made her make this decision?He didn't know, and he had no time to investigate.There is always something about her that he can't understand, and he has already learned to let go of unnecessary entanglements.Everyone has their own life to live, she has given him so many good things, she will always be young in his memory, enough is enough.

Since then her name began to appear in his sight frequently, because the debate never stopped.Apart from the school whose students were from more than a dozen races including werewolves, centaurs and even elves, and which were often ridiculed as "army" and "monster cage" or even worse, there were many things about her herself.Some people say that she is an ambitious person dedicated to cultivating her own power, some people say that she is a pioneer who is as great as the founder of Hogwarts, and there are also some people who analyze her life with sympathy and compassion and conclude that She's just the conclusion of a poor woman desperately fighting for attention.It's just that no matter which party mentions her current movements, it will always be "unknown" in vague terms. It seems that the only definite information they have is that she is still alive.

In fact, it's hard to say how sure even that is until her next appearance.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the founding of Infinity, news spread from Hogwarts that the principal, Minerva McGonagall, was about to retire.It is said that the senior professor has hinted that she will be selected as his successor, and will try his best to complete a series of handover procedures before the start of the new school year in September 2044.

Public opinion was in an uproar.

Draco gloated a little when he heard the news: she would probably be dumbfounded when she popped out of nowhere again and found herself with such a big burden and muddy water in front of her.

Mag has always been one of the important forces supporting her. It is rumored that the topic of letting her take over has been discussed several times in private, but apparently to no avail.The serious, difficult and low-key female professor even revealed the news to the media. It seems that she is determined to win this time.

This time her approach would not work, and Hogwarts did not have a tradition of letting the headmaster run around unless it was a war time.

He breathed a sigh of relief—the old guy, it's time to settle down.

Facts have proved that some things are really difficult to change. After so many years, he still habitually underestimates her amazing ability.

On Christmas Eve, another explosive piece of news spread across the country with flakes of snow: Fanny Sanchez had been confirmed dead in an avalanche.

It is reported that the time of the incident should be mid-November 2043.In October of that year, she came to a remote village in southwestern Tibet, China, trying to get close to a girl named Tashi Zhuoga, who was regarded as some kind of evil god by the local people, including her parents, because of the unexplainable weirdness on her body. The embodiment of - the fact that she is apparently an untrained witch.

She brought the outside world to Zhuoga, and finally won the trust of the lonely girl after a long mutual gesture.Zhuoga proposed to take her to the secret place he discovered, and let her see her abilities.

No one told Zhuoga why there was no one in that mountain pass.With her experience, she could tell at a glance, but she let Zhuoga lead her into danger, maybe it was a fluke, maybe it was because it was directly related to a child's pure trust.From the perspective of the consequences, it's not worth it at all, but she has made this choice many times.

There's always one time when bad luck strikes, and it's often the last.

Raise your hands high, supporting yourself in the collapsing world.This is the last image of Zhuoga who turned her head when she fled in a hurry, and it is also left by this world.

After reading the report, Draco didn't shed tears, but his face suddenly turned pale.A part that he hadn't touched for a long, long time suddenly ached, reminding him of its eternal existence.

A few months later, Rose Weasley arrived at Draco's mansion in the south of France, where he had lived for several years since handing over the reins to Scorpius.Weasley had already become a well-informed and experienced reporter, even in such a luxurious environment, he was not at all cramped.It's just that Draco has more than 20 years of life experience than her, and he can't fail to see the sadness when she mentions her intention.

Astoria prepared refreshments for the guests with his usual calmness and left the room. After a few routine greetings, the two got down to business.

Draco never thought of showing this experience to anyone, and he was a little surprised at his calm and order in the narrative.He guessed that maybe a corner of his heart had already foreseen this day, because she was the one who would become the story.During Weasley's questioning, the details of the recollection were constantly added, far more than he thought he could remember.

"So when did you really 'fell' for her?"

The politeness of alienation and caution is much less than at the beginning, but instead reveals a lively interest in inquiring about the affairs of the elders.Draco couldn't help but glance at her, answering before she could embarrass herself and apologize for her faux pas.

This does not seem to be a difficult question to answer.

Her mischievous smile after a particularly dangerous escape from Filch; the astonishment she brought when she walked down the steps on the day of the ball; her lonely and unrestrained figure when she was flying alone... the heart-pounding moment?Too much.

"I think it was when the third year went to Hogsmeade for the first time," he said at last.

He took Crabgore and Pansy into Honeydukes that day, and happened to meet Granger and Ron Weasley.The obvious hostility between the boys suddenly made the atmosphere tense. As if to break the deadlock, Granger pulled her who had just come out from behind the shelf next to her: "What do you want to buy, Fanny?"

She made an expression typical of those who are poor in pockets, and took out two copper Knuts: "I don't have any money, so I just come in and take a look."

The atmosphere became more rigid amid the sneering sneers of several Slytherins, and Granger said again with great embarrassment: "You can first..."

"Forget it, I will definitely forget to return it." She waved her hand, thought for a while, and took a candy from the shelf next to it.He went to the counter again, patted the busy boss who was surrounded by a group of children, and showed him the things in his hand: "Two Nats, I'll buy a zizi honey candy, okay?"

The boss gave her a strange look and turned his attention back, and she repeated what she had just said without discouragement, this time getting a very impatient nod.

So she dropped the two Knuts into the money pot, said hello to Granger and walked out.The moment he went out, Draco saw her throw the candy high, raised her head and accurately caught it with her mouth, and the skirt of her robe fluttered with brisk steps and disappeared by the door.

"Pauper of Gryffindor," Pansy muttered disdainfully.

The 13-year-old Draco's mouth twitched, and he suppressed the rebuttal that was on the verge of his mouth: She does have no money, but she is not poor, not at all.

The traces of that scene are so vivid, after a long time, the former head of the Malfoy family can still clearly see the lines drawn by her short light-colored hair in the air floating in the sun when she raised her head, and the slight smile when she left. The corners of the mouth raised.

He was glad that something stored in his increasingly dull mind would not fade.

At the end of the interview, Astoria knocked on the door of the study.

"I have something here that might be of some use to you," she said to Weasley.

It was a small two-inch box, and when opened, it revealed a disc embedded in a finely machined bracket.Astoria tapped it lightly with his wand, and the disc turned smoothly.

"This was recorded when I met Miss Sanchez in 2009." Astoria explained, and Draco glanced at his wife in surprise. Of course he knew when what his wife said happened, After all, she has only left that once in all these years.Life was business as usual after that, and neither of them mentioned that week again.He really didn't expect Astoria to find her, and he left behind a voice that had been dusty for decades.

The disc was spinning faster and faster, and the only sound left in the room was the slight rustling sound of a machine that hadn't been used for many years.When the voice that broke away from the constraints of time and space sounded, the expressions of several people froze for a moment.

"...I think that's what drew us to each other in the first place. A well-to-do, well-loved, extraordinarily sophisticated man who knows nothing about the world outside his home; .We are each other's missing lives, and our very different lives have taught us something in common."

Draco couldn't help but secretly picture her expression when she spoke in his mind. Compared with the last time he heard her voice, her voice was a little deeper, and it had a bit more of the unique charm of a strong and mature woman.

"...what made our beginnings also made our ends. We can't really understand each other, just like birds can't understand fish. His encounters can be complicated, but his path was planned long before he was born. He's got it - inherited the family business, maintained the pure bloodline. He just needs to take the quickest path in that direction. I'm totally different. I can never predict what I will be doing in an hour, a year, or a decade from now. , become. My life is made up of one process after another, and I choose to take a shortcut or not to take a shortcut because I want to experience the path itself, and the results achieved are never important.”

"There are always countless paths waiting for me to experience, and I am ready to walk away at any time when I step on each one, which also means that I cannot take any responsibility. I will be a good friend, teammate, A partner, or even a lover to spice up someone's boring life—and it can be done very skillfully, you know. But I'm not going to be a wife or a mother."

"You were once engaged." Astoria's voice.

"That's right, and almost married." Her voice was still calm, revealing her usual indifference. "That was the closest. I wanted to marry him, I loved him, and I was tired. After a disaster like that, I thought I wanted to settle down and spend the rest of my life with the people I loved. He'll protect me - he's always trying to do that. We'll fight every day until our hair is the same color, until eventually - honestly, that's still my desire, thinking about it now I will still smile when I see the future."

Whether or not she was smiling could not be heard from the voice, and Astoria spoke in a calm tone when she spoke again.

"But you chose to leave in the end." It was hard to tell whether Mrs. Malfoy was prompting or curious, "Do you still think this is a possible future?"

"Of course it is, and it's obviously passed, but you can't deny the possibility that things could have gone that way." There was a slight smile in her voice, "We all know it's just a 'possibility' now, but think about it. Is there no harm? In a moment, I can indeed give up wandering, give up all the rest of the road to become the wife of an important family heir, sleep with him, and bear children for him. The problem is that I can't give up who I am , I made my choice and have to live with the exhaustion, the running and the lava crater because of it, just like you have to live with someone's nitpicking, perfectionism and machismo - oh c'mon, don't say You didn't get mad about it."

There was a burst of laughter, and even Draco and Weasley, who were listening off-set, smiled.

"I love my life now, it's always been a mess, but it's mine. I love Draco Malfoy, and will probably continue to do so, he's a part of my life - very important, but just a part of it." To be honest, even now, it is hard for me to tell whether I love him more or that love. We are a completely impossible combination, and this relationship has faced a collision of ways of doing things from the very beginning , background differences, college estrangement, relatives and friends’ opposition, etc., and later added the hostility of positions. It’s really perfect.”

"You call it perfection." There was a smile in Astoria's voice.

"I've been a freak for almost 30 years, ma'am. If there's one thing I've been consistently successful in over a long time, it's ruined every single one of my life. At first I had to learn to fit in with him Etiquette talking about genealogy and trying to get my grades up to the Malfoy threshold, then the war, and then his family's turn when the war was over. I never liked the effort that had to be put in, but really, This is the love I want."

"Suddenly, there was nothing. There was no reason to be hostile, his parents agreed, and the wedding was being planned. I realized it was over, and we came together through all kinds of hardships like the prince and princess in the story. .I'll get what I've always wanted, marry the man I love, and put his stamp on him for the rest of my life with an exchange of vows—and then what? What does that mean? What does it bring?"

"It's ridiculous to say that the fear of the marriage life in front of me was even stronger than the battlefield. At least I didn't want to escape so much. Maybe it was pre-marital anxiety. I tried to convince myself every day that it was not a big mistake. , we will be happy, we are so in love, but obviously the fear is still deepening. In the last days, the fight spread into the night, and finally the fear turned into action, and I ran away. I can't even explain to him why I left, and I am grateful What’s more, he didn’t make things worse by asking questions. He tolerated my hurt and betrayal again, forgave my selfishness and cowardice, and I don’t know how he could do that.”

silence.

"Have you ever regretted leaving?"

silence.

"It was the most painful decision I've ever made and the one I don't regret the most."

The recording ended here, and the listener did not come back to his senses for a long time.

No one but Astoria would ever know there was something beyond the recording.

Just when the spell was lifted and she was about to leave, she took a sip of the coffee that was still warm under the protection of the magic, and spoke again: "If I have the courage to admit it, I am a mean person, and that is what I did. The meanest thing ever. I saw the end from our first reunion or earlier. But I chose to succumb to lust for a moment of peace, and I used him. It was my luck to meet him, And I've brought him nothing but hurt. That's why I'm just his past and you are his present and future. You're all worth it, go back to him, take a good look and you'll understand of."

"I will." Astoria stared at her former friend, thinking about how to put into words those words that not only belonged to her, "Also, he never hated you. He can't say it, but I know that when I met you You are just as lucky for him. Whatever you say about yourself, Fanny, you deserve far more than that."

In silence, she looked at the bustling crowd outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and looked back into Astoria's eyes again.

"Thanks, Leah."

And it turns out that no matter how far apart she is, her understanding of him will not change.The Floo Network is undoubtedly more convenient, but Astoria chose to go back to his own world step by step.The moment she saw him after pushing open the door of the house she had only left for a week but seemed like she hadn't seen him for many years, she knew that all scheming and cleverness were unnecessary.

I am back.

The author has something to say:

Astoria is set to die early in the unlucky child, which I refuse...