a/n: I know it's been officially THREE months since I've updated (I know, crazy :P), but I am not abandoning this story, don't worry, I love the Malfoys too much :D RL's just been crazy, and I actually wrote this in December, but couldn't find the time to post it afterwards :/

To the reviewers:

revengerufus: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter :D

lowi: Thanks! :D I hope you find this insight into Astoria's mind interesting :D

Emily Mae: Thanks for your reviews! I don't think Narcissa is a coward either - in fact, she's probably braver than both Draco and Lucius put together :/ That was just her second-guessing herself :/ Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And without further delay, here's Astoria's story - as well as a bedtime tale she tells Scorpius :D

The Story of the Beast

Once upon a time, in a kingdom known as Great Britain, a baby girl with snowy white skin and flowing brown hair was born.

She grew up in a well-off family of witches and wizards, a pureblood family; the middle daughter of three, she was neither the eldest, nor the youngest. Everyone fawned over her older sister, because she was so pretty and graceful and clever; everyone worried over her younger sister, because she was so clumsy and sharp-tongued and rebellious. No one seemed to care about her, the middle daughter, because she was just the obedient one, a carbon-copy of her older sister, after all.

When she turned eleven, no longer the little girl with pink ribbons she had once been, she received an acceptance letter to a prestigious boarding school in the mountains in Scotland. It wasn't a big deal, though; her elder sister had, after all, already returned from her first year at the school called Hogwarts. However, the young girl's parents did pay her more attention that night, congratulating her, joking that she'd better be in Slytherin House, or else; she liked that.

She did land in Slytherin House – but it wasn't much, really, because her sister had already been accepted there. Still, she smiled as she skipped towards the House table. She met with a few friends. An older boy with blond hair from one of the best pureblood families out there caught her eye; seeing her stare, he winked.

For the next few years, she made herself a reputation in Slytherin House. By her sixth year, she was already long-surrounded by cronies and the like. She had many acquaintances, especially in her House, and enjoyed her power. She seemed heartless and untouchable, and her only weakness was him: the blond boy.

The blond boy had grown up, too. By his final year – for he was in her older sister's year – he was no longer a boy, but a man. There had been a war in their world for quite a bout of time already; it had forced him and everyone else to grow up far too quickly. He had to take up his father's mantle, because his father had gone to jail. He had to swear allegiance to his father's allegiance, because his entire family's lives lay at stake. She, the young woman she had become, admired him for it.

In the beginning of May of that year, there was a call in the middle of the night: war had come to their school. Terrified, every one of them was rushed out of their dormitories, her included. Her Head of House would usher them to a safe haven, she was told. Many other students, the fighters, regarded her lot with spite for it. "Cowards!" they spat at her. "Filthy little You-Know-Who supporters, you Slytherins are!"

They were stupid, the girl knew, spitting back at them, very unlike the proper lady her mother had urged her to become. Didn't they know that some people were simply not fit for fighting? Didn't they know that it was not only Gryffindors whose lives were at stake, but Slytherins too? Didn't they know that it was not cowardly, but shrewd, to keep from the fighting?

And so she followed her people towards safety, lugging behind her sister, who then looked back at their school in flames and remembered with terrified precision that their other sister was there, too. The young woman's sister broke then into a run, closely followed by her friends and boyfriend. The sixth year watched her sister run, scared out of her wits, but willing to go on all the same. If both her sisters perished, at least her parents would have her as a remaining daughter.

She was wrong. Her sisters did not perish; her blond prince, who fought also, was safe. The other side had fallen, leaving the Slytherins in the dust, the victors' faces scorning at them horribly. The government of their world awarded honours to those who fought; the young woman's parents were so, so proud of their two daughters who had fought, even though they had been awarded lower honours than the children of the other Houses.

The second daughter was ignored one more time.

Her blond prince was missing for a long time after the war, perhaps at least a year and a half. Rumour was that he had escaped to the coasts of Greece with his girlfriend, the second daughter's sister's friend. When he came back, finally, the young woman had gathered the courage to visit him, until she heard the news: her blond prince had come back with a bastard child, the spawn of his ex-girlfriend, who had run off in a horrible cowardice.

So she stayed away, patching up the pieces of her broken heart.

When he was twenty-four and she, twenty-three, he bought her a drink in a shady pub the young woman's younger sister had recently acquired. "Ogden's Finest?" he inquired, peering at her with his handsome grey eyes, and her heart immediately melted for him. Perhaps he did love her! "It's my treat, Miss."

"Call me Astoria," the young woman offered with a shy smile. She held out a hand. "Astoria Greengrass."

"Daphne's younger sister?" he guessed. For once, she did not grimace. "Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Draco looked at her with wariness; perhaps he was afraid she would run at the mention of his surname. However, she had already loved him for much too long to do so; anyway, it was only ever so a name. Plus, it was his father who was the real evil, not him. "A pleasure, Mr – Draco."

Two months later, he proposed, and she accepted blissfully, thinking she might have gotten the happily ever after she deserved, after all this time.

She was wrong, of course. Happily-ever-afters were for girls like her sister Daphne, who never seemed to realise how lucky they were; they were not for girls like Astoria, who were bitter and cynical and so utterly twisted. Daphne, who married a man who wasn't lusting after a woman who had long disappeared. Daphne, whose husband's bastard child did not live in her house, a living reminder that her husband had loved another woman before her. Daphne, who wasn't viewed as angry and spiteful and heartless by most of the living world.

Half of the time, Astoria wondered whether the Fates had something against her.

Perhaps her child, Scorpius, was her one redeeming quality. Perhaps her child, Scorpius, was the only thing that she loved without a trace of bitterness or selfishness in it. Perhaps her child, Scorpius, wouldn't grown up to be like her if Astoria kept his sister in check, so that Megara wouldn't steal too much of the limelight and make her brother long for more, always more.

Astoria was a mess, she knew. And hell, she didn't even know what she was doing most of the time.

She was only ever moving along with the twisted rhythm of this dirty world, after all.

Scorpius didn't like to go to bed early. Mother told him little boys like him had to, simply had to, or else they'd fall ill with a mysterious sickness and die – which just confirmed Scorpius' thought that life as a five-year-old was horribly dull.

He sat with his covers pulled up to his chest, holding his well-worn stuffed dragon. He tugged at his mother's sleeve – she seemed to be falling asleep. "Mother," he coaxed her, "I want to hear another story. You've already told me the one about the Wizard and the Hopping Pot."

Astoria sighed, smiling tiredly at her only son. She did tend to spoil the boy, yes, but tonight, she was especially tired. Scorpius and his cousin Alcmene, who was Daphne's daughter, had a play date scheduled at Theodore and Daphne's house this afternoon; she had thought it would prove to be relaxing, sitting there and drinking tea with Daphne, Theodore, and her heavily pregnant sister Mnemosyne and her husband David. How could Astoria have known that Alcmene and Scorpius would have the brilliant idea to break into Theodore's potion storerooms and concoct an explosive potion?

"It's past your bedtime, darling," she replied, ruffling his blond hair. Exactly like his father's, she thought fondly, except that Draco lacked Scorpius' hair's golden aspect. "You're going to be tired tomorrow morning. Remember, Mr Orkney will be arriving around eleven o'clock."

Scorpius grimaced. Mr Orkney was his tutor, who expected the boy to call him 'sir' at all times. Orkney smelled atrociously, was in the habit to strike Scorpius with a Stinging Hex whenever he thought his student learnt too slowly, and became angered whenever the boy couldn't understand his thick burr.

"Please, Mother," he pouted at her, giving her the puppy dog look he knew she couldn't resist. "One story." His gaze moved over to his well-worn copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "How about 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart'?"

"Not age-appropriate, Scorpius," Astoria said firmly. She gently closed the book and motioned for Scorpius to lie down. "Why don't I tell you a story of my own making, my little scorpion? Would you like that? I will bet that you are well tired of The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

Slowly, Scorpius's blond head bobbed up and down. "Yes, please, Mother."

"Alright." With her wand, Astoria extinguished the lights of her son's suite. She parted the curtains and pointed to the luminous white ball that was the moon. "Do you see the full moon, Scorpius? Do you know what it means?"

"Of course," the boy scoffed. "Werewolves turn into wolves at the full moon and bite people." Scorpius paused. "And then the people who got bitten turn into werewolves at the next full moon, and bite other people." Mother?

Astoria nodded. "But that's not just all." Her voice quiet, she continued, "Have you ever heard of the Beast, Scorpius?"

"You mean like in the Muggle fairy tale, Mother?"

Astoria frowned – she didn't let her child near Muggle fairy tales! It was definitely Scorpius' sister, meddling again; she should drop a line to Draco for him to keep her better disciplined. "I don't know what you're talking about, darling. This Beast, you see, is a human being."

"The Beast in the Muggle fairy tale was a human, too, Mother," Scorpius piped up, "but he got turned into a big hairy monster when he was mean and had to find love to break his spell. There're dancing teacups and a pretty girl called Belle in the Disney version of The Beauty and the Beast..."

"Interesting," Astoria said distractedly, not hearing a word of what he had said. She stroked his hair, the details of the story unravelling in her mind. "Once upon a time, Scorpius, there was a man.

"He was a good-looking man, vain, rich, and very cruel. He had a wife, yes – she was far more compassionate than him, but haughty all the same. However, she was loving to their only son – contrarily to him. The man, he only wanted power. He worked for an evil master who made him do evil deeds – and he did it, because he adored power, and because he was twisted on the inside.

"Soon after the boy turned sixteen, war came. Mind you, Scorpius, there had been one a few years back; but, Merlin, this one was different. For example, last time round, the boy had been a baby. This time, the master was back, and recruiting again; he sent the man, the boy's father, on a mission, and when he failed, the master was angered."

Scorpius, who was listening intently, yawned and snuggled a bit closer to his mother. Smiling, Astoria began to stroke his hair while she continued her story.

"So, to get his revenge, the master called up the son. He called him up, and enrolled him into his ranks. Now, the son, see, he'd been raised to be in this life – and so, at first, he was proud to take his father's place.

"However, the master had given him a mission. Succeed or die, he'd told him. The boy was under much pressure, Scorpius, you have to understand. His mission was horrible: in order to stay alive, he had to kill someone."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "That's bad!" he exclaimed, with the bold confidence of a five-year-old boy. "What happens next, Mother?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Astoria's mouth. "You'll see, darling."

"You can imagine how distraught – how panicked – the boy became. After all, during the year, he had discovered that he, unlike his father, could not kill. And so it was failure after failure, and the master – well, he was not happy, not at all.

"The end of the year was nearing, and finally, finally, the man he was supposed to kill was killed, but by someone else. Of course, the master was happy that the man the boy was supposed to kill was gone, but he still held the boy's failure over his head. And during the summer, when the boy's father broke out of Az – prison, the master had nothing but spite.

"So he treated the boy and his family like shi – like dirt, I mean, Scorpius. He was terrible to them and evil and made the boy watch murder and murder. It scared him, my little scorpion. But he couldn't do anything, because or else they'd all die."

Scorpius yawned again and began sucking on his thumb. Gently removing it from her son's mouth, the corners of Astoria's mouth quirked up and she continued, "So he stayed. He stayed and tried to do what was right in spite of the consequences. He really tried, Scorpius, he really did. And then, at the end of that year, something happened.

"There was war at the boy's school. So his master's men invaded the school and there was an ever so horrid battle, Scorpius. Ever so horrible. Buildings burning, spells flying in every direction. It was a terrible time, I say.

"So the boy, right, he did what he could. And he suffered. He watched his friend die, one of his very best friends. He was simply devastated. Soon, though, the battle was over. It was over and the other side had won and the boy and his father were sent to prison for working for the Dark – for their bad master, Scorpius."

Astoria's son stretched and rubbed at his eyes. "Are you quite finished yet, Mother?" Scorpius asked, quite bluntly in his mother's opinion. But, of course, she didn't fault him for that. She couldn't, because she was his mother and he was the only thing that was good about her in this world and that was how things worked.

Instead, she squeezed his hand and said, "Patience, Scorpius. It's almost finished. You do want to hear about the Beast, do you?"

"Oh, yes, do I ever, Mother."

"Good, good," she murmured. "Er..." She looked outside at the full moon and got a sudden inspiration. "But a few months later, they were released. The father got sent back to Az – jail for three years, the boy went off free. Only, he wasn't a boy anymore; he was a man. So he went off into the world and gallivanted over to Greece with a fanciful bit – fanciful girl at his school. They had a daughter; the fanciful c – girl left.

"The b – man came back, Scorpius. And he was lonely, ever so lonely, and one day he went to a pub. And then, he met m – he met a lovely girl. Lovelier than any other girl, especially the fanciful girl he was with before. Soon, my little scorpion, they fell in love. And they married.

"That's the happily ever after for them, my son, but let's get back to the father, shall we? After prison, he was a wreck, plain and simple. He came back home to the rich manor where he and his family lived and found that he simply couldn't find anything to do with himself anymore.

"So he drank. And drank. And one day when he was out drinking, he tottered over to the Min – to a government organisation. He got attacked there. By a vile creature, a werewolf. And he was marked, scarred; there, he became a Beast. If he wasn't one before."

Astoria pointed to the moon, and watched her son yawn and squint his eyes at the round splendour. "And every full moon, Scorpius, he comes out. He comes out and scares little children and mourns the things he lost." Kissing both his cheeks and gently tapping his nose, Astoria smiled and made him lie back down. Tucking him in, she whispered, "And that's why you have to stay inside on a full moon, Scorpius. That's why you have to stay safe. Now, goodnight, my son."

Scorpius blinked his eyes and yawned several times, great jaw-cracking yawns. And then he turned his head towards the window, towards the illuminated full moon, and murmured sleepily, "I've gotta to stay safe on a full moon, Mother. Got that."

Next up: I lied, Scorpius isn't going to meet someone in the kitchens just yet. Next up is a filler chapter, of sorts.

After that: The meeting in the kitchens. If I don't change my mind again :/

So, how does everyone like Astoria and Scorpius? Their relationship? The insight into Astoria's mind? Please read and review, anyways, especially if you favourited/alerted! :D

BTW: You can read more of my works about the Malfoys in Four Lives: Four Heirs, in memorial day, and in Legacy :D