A/N – This is a short 4 part reunion story. As regular readers know I love the reunion type of story, but for this one I decided to do something different and make Draco the one who hasn't seen his friends for years.
Draco Malfoy was making the most of his quiet Saturday morning. He was stretched out on his large sofa, reading the papers and drinking a cup of tea. Since leaving school five years ago and going to work at the busy family business, Draco rarely had a complete weekend off. Usually he brought home some work to do over the weekend, but for once there was no need to bring home extra work and Draco was looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
Draco was also quite pleased that his relaxing weekend just happened to have fallen on a Saturday when his fiancée, Astoria Greengrass already had plans. If Astoria hadn't been busy no doubt she would have found something for them to do, most likely something that involved Draco spending money on her, but luckily for Draco she'd already made plans. After visiting her sister, Daphne, the previous evening Astoria had headed to a friend's place for the night. The two witches were then planning on spending their Saturday shopping before Astoria returned home.
Draco shuddered to think how much Astoria would spend as his fiancée liked to splash the cash and had very expensive tastes. Luckily her father was still footing the bills for Astoria's shopping trips, but once they were married in a month all that would change and it would be up to Draco to deal with Astoria's spending habits. Draco had no problem spending money on Astoria, but there was no way he was going to indulge her the way her father did. They'd already had a discussion about a limit to her spending once they were married, but Draco suspected she hadn't really taken it in. No doubt Astoria was thinking she could carry on spending the way she wanted and wheedle her way out of trouble with Draco in the bedroom. Little did she realise that Draco was having none of that and was planning on making sure Astoria didn't spend more than he was willing to pay for once they were married.
Turning his attention away from Astoria and her spending habits, Draco briefly put down his papers as he went to make himself another cup of tea. As he made the tea he grabbed himself a couple of biscuits to nibble on. The blond wizard had only just returned to the front room and settled back down when there was a knock on the door. Placing his tea on the coffee table, Draco once again got up and went to answer the door.
"Theo." Draco greeted, when he opened the door to the penthouse and found one of his best friends, Theo Nott, standing outside.
"Draco." Theo said. "Can we talk?"
"Of course, come in."
"You are alone, aren't you?" Theo questioned as he entered the luxury penthouse his friend owned.
"Yeah, Astoria's out shopping. I'm not expecting her back until later." Draco replied as the two men made their way into the front room. "Do you want a drink?"
"No, thanks." Theo replied.
"Is everything okay, Theo?" Draco asked. His friend seemed nervous and looked troubled.
"No." Theo answered as he perched on a chair. "I've done something so stupid."
"What?" Draco settled back onto the sofa, wondering what Theo had done.
"I've slept with someone else." Theo admitted quietly.
Draco stared at his friend, genuinely shocked by his confession. Theo was married to Astoria's sister Daphne and Draco had always thought they had the perfect relationship. The pair had been together since they were fifteen and had gotten married just over a year after leaving school. They'd always seemed so happy and in love and Draco had envied them finding the person they wanted to spend their life with so early.
"Why?" Draco asked eventually. "I thought you loved Daphne."
"I do." Theo insisted. "But lately I've been wondering if we settled down too early. Daphne's the only witch I've ever been with and I started to wonder if maybe I was missing out on something. So when I suddenly had this attractive witch throwing herself at me, I couldn't resist. She was offering it up on a plate, how could I refuse?"
"How about because you're married and you claim to love your wife?" Draco retorted. "You should have been able to say no."
"I know that's what I should have done." Theo sighed. "But I didn't, and now I have no idea what to do."
"I would say you have two options." Draco told his friend. "You either tell Daphne, and throw yourself at her mercy and hope she forgives you, or you forget the entire thing and make sure it never happens again."
"It's not that simple." Theo muttered.
"Why not?" Draco questioned. "It's not as if you're going to see this woman again, is it?"
"Actually I will."
"Please tell me you're not planning on having a full blown affair." Draco growled. "Daphne's my friend as well, and I don't want to lie to her for you."
"I'm not going to have an affair." Theo said quietly. "But the thing is, I know this woman really well. I'm going to have to see her all the time."
"Don't tell me it's Pansy." Draco groaned. Pansy Parkinson was the only witch Draco could think that Theo would see on a regular basis as she was Daphne's best friend and their best friend, Blaise Zabini's girlfriend. "Please say you haven't slept with your wife's best friend. Not to mention that she's also your best friend's girlfriend."
"I wish." Theo snorted. "It's worse than that."
"What can be worse than your shagging your wife's best friend?"
"Sleeping with her sister." Theo mumbled quietly.
Draco blinked a few times as he tried to register what Theo was saying. "Astoria?" He whispered eventually. "You slept with Astoria?"
"I'm so sorry Draco." Theo cried. "I tried to resist, but she was all over me. It was a mistake honestly."
"Get out." Draco said coldly.
"But Draco…"
"I said get out." Draco snarled. "Now."
Theo took one look at his fuming best friend and decided it was best he left. Draco was more than capable of completely losing it and Theo didn't want to be in the crossfire if that happened. As it was he knew he was lucky not to have been hexed into oblivion.
"I'm sorry." Theo offered one final time as he left the penthouse.
Draco sat staring into space, barely aware of Theo leaving the penthouse. He could have easily lost it and lashed out at Theo, but to be honest he was slightly stunned. He knew Astoria liked to flirt, as did he, but he'd never once considered that she would cheat on him. He would never dream of betraying his fiancée like that and he was genuinely hurt that she would do that to him. They'd been together for two and a half years and he thought Astoria loved him, clearly he'd been wrong. In Draco's opinion if you loved someone, you didn't cheat on them, it was as simple as that.
Draco sat for nearly an hour before he got up and headed off to the spare room. The room was currently being used as the headquarters to organise the wedding and everything he needed was in there. Draco knew without a doubt that the wedding was off, he couldn't marry Astoria after her betrayal. He doubted he would ever have been able to forgive her for cheating on him, but the fact she'd done so with Theo was enough for him to know he could never trust her again. Not only had she betrayed him with one of his best friends, but she'd betrayed her sister as well by bedding her husband. Given her actions with Theo, Draco was beginning to think he'd never known Astoria at all.
Thinking about the betrayal he'd suffered, Draco set about gathering the wedding information and heading to his study. Once in his study, he spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon cancelling the wedding. Because of the relatively late notice Draco couldn't get back any of his deposits, but he wasn't bothered about money. He would rather lose a few hundred galleons than marry someone who had broken his heart.
After cancelling the wedding, Draco headed into the bedroom and grabbed a case. Magically enlarging it so it would hold everything he needed, he set about packing up his things. While the penthouse was actually his and he planned on telling Astoria to vacate it, he just couldn't stick around the place. He would go home to the Manor, and once Astoria was out of the penthouse he would completely empty it and sell it.
After making sure he had everything he needed or wanted to take immediately, Draco threw his bag down beside the fire and sat down to wait for Astoria. He could have just gone and left a note, but he needed to end things with his fiancée face to face. Whether she would try to apologise or not didn't matter to Draco, he was leaving and nothing she could say would change that.
It was nearly six o'clock before Astoria sauntered into the penthouse. As Draco had earlier suspected she'd gone wild at the shops, and returned home laden with bags. Seemingly oblivious to Draco's dark mood she magically sent her bags to the bedroom, before walking over to her fiancé and leaning over to give him a peck on the cheek. It was only when Draco pulled away that Astoria spotted how frosty he looked.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"What's wrong is that I've just found out my fiancée is a cheating tart." Draco replied.
"How dare you call me a tart." Astoria gasped.
"I'm sorry, what should I call you?" Draco asked sarcastically. "What is the right term for a woman who sleeps with her fiancé's best friend, who also happens to be her brother-in-law?"
"How do you know?" Astoria questioned as she sank down onto the sofa, going pale as she realised her secret was out.
"Theo." Draco answered. "I'm not sure if he had an attack of conscience, or if he just felt I should know what a tart I was going to marry."
"I'm sorry Draco." Astoria said quietly. "I was weak and stupid, but he kept coming onto me and I made a mistake."
"Funny, according to Theo it was you coming onto him." Draco chuckled humourlessly. He had no idea which one was lying, but at this point he didn't care.
"I wouldn't do that." Astoria protested. "Please Draco, you have to believe me. It was a mistake, and not even a good one. I love you, it's you I'm marrying."
"Not anymore." Draco told his former fiancée as he stood up. "I've cancelled the wedding."
"Please don't." Astoria begged. "I promise it won't happen again, it was a one off."
"Once is more than enough." Draco retorted. "It's over Astoria. I'm going back to the Manor, but I want you out. You've got a week to leave the penthouse, and don't try taking anything that's not yours because I'll know."
"Draco, don't go." Astoria called as Draco picked up his bag and activated the floo network.
Ignoring the cries of the witch who had almost become his wife, Draco stepped into the emerald flames and flooed to his childhood home. He arrived in the welcoming room that served as the main floo entrance point in the Manor and almost immediately a house elf appeared. After handing his bag to the elf and asking it to take it to his room, Draco set off in search of his parents.
Draco found Lucius and Narcissa in the front room, the couple were sitting talking quietly on the sofa together. Draco watched his parents lovingly interacting with each other for a couple of minutes before making his presence known.
"Draco." Narcissa smiled widely at the sight of her son, but her expression became more serious when she noticed the sad expression on her son's face. "What's happened?" She asked, ushering him into the room and sitting him down beside her.
"I've left Astoria." Draco answered.
Lucius grabbed his son a glass of firewhisky and handed it to him as Draco began to explain all that had happened that day. Lucius and Narcissa were both shocked to hear what had happened, but they both agreed that Draco had done the right thing in leaving Astoria. Despite what most people thought of them, Draco was their top priority and neither Lucius nor Narcissa would expect him to do anything that made him unhappy.
"What are you going to do now?" Lucius asked his son.
"I don't know." Draco shrugged. "I've given her a week to get out of the penthouse, but I'm not going back. In fact, I think I might just leave altogether and get a fresh start."
"Let's not be too hasty." Narcissa said quickly. "Give yourself a few days before you make any final decisions."
"Don't worry Mother, I'm not going to rush off just yet." Draco reassured Narcissa. "It's just an option at this stage."
Despite Draco insisting his decision to leave wasn't final, both Lucius and Narcissa knew he would end up leaving. The fact he'd mentioned it clearly meant he'd been seriously thinking about it, and if he'd been thinking about it in such a serious manner they knew he would follow through on it. Hopefully he would stick around for a while but the couple were certain that he would be gone before the day he had been due to be married in just over a month's time.