"Astoria! For Merlin's sake wake up! Mum has been calling you for ages!"

"Wha—?" Astoria grumbled sleepily, finally registering in shock that her blond sister was actually in her bedroom. Back when the two were younger, they had been closer and often frequented each other's bedrooms. But that was back when the thrill of sleeping over in each other's rooms was still fresh, and before Daph had started at Hogwarts. Daphne hadn't been in her room in years.

"Get up! I swear it's like you're not excited that your future mother-in-law is just downstairs!"

"Who?"

Even in her befuddled state, Astoria realised that she was quickly getting on her sister's nerves. Daph was standing in front of her wardrobe, looking through the outfits closely, muttering under her breath. Astoria continued to lie in bed, watching her with both parts confusion and amusement. Daphne and Astoria had drastically different styles. Daphne preferred the trendier, hip styles and Astoria was far more classically inclined.

"For Merlin's sake, make yourself presentable—you're hair is a mess and the bags under your eyes are massive. Here," she gestured to an outfit, "put this on and hurry up! I'll go distract them for a little while longer. Pretend that you're coming from the garden! The Cornfoots will be aghast if they find you have actually been sleeping this late!"

And with that last statement, her sister swooped out of the room as quickly as she had come, only pausing momentarily to admire her beautiful diamond engagement ring as it caught the sunlight.

Astoria stood up wearily. What on earth were the Cornfoots doing here? Was it just Lady Cornfoot? Was Stephen with her? After all the words that she and Stephen had shared outside of Flourish and Blotts, she found it hard to believe that he would ever want to see her again. Surely, he wanted a nice little pureblood girl who would do his every bidding. Surely he no longer wanted to see her. But maybe Stephen wasn't here at all. Maybe Lady and Lord Cornfoot were just here to visit her mother.

Her father was still out of town on business, as per usual, and it was true that formal visits usually required both spouses to be present but…

Astoria shook herself from her reverie and instead listened for the slight sounds of voices wafting up from the sitting room. Sure enough, after holding her breath for a few moments, she heard the foreign voices and quickly jumped into action, grabbing her wand muttering incantations until she finally looked presentable.

She faced herself in the mirror, admiring her handiwork. Her long dark hair hung down her back, glistening in the faint sunlight. The bags under her eyes had all but disappeared, only faintly outlining her eye socket. The flowy dress that Daphne had selected for her to where was white and caused her to look serene, like she had indeed only been just outside, enjoying the warmer summer weather.

Astoria summoned the flowers from her bedside table, red tulips, one of her favourites, She hurriedly jogged out of her room, rushing towards the sitting room, cursing her short legs for the hundredth time and only stopping once she was outside the sitting room, desperately trying to catch her breath and clutching the beautiful bouquet in her hands.

Four heads turned in her direction as she entered with as much grace as she could muster. He was here!

"Please forgive me, I was out in the garden, tending to the flowers." She lifted the bouquet as if to show them proof.

"Oh my! They are lovely, my dear." Lady Cornfoot, dressed simply in a pair of light green every day robes, sat beside her son on the couch reserved for 'important visitors' according to her mother.

Speaking of Astoria's mother, she glanced over to see her mum quickly give a quick up and down before nodding in approval of Astoria's state of being. Daphne sat by impassively, staring at the clock on the wall, impatiently waiting for Theodore to come, as he was expected after work.

"Thank you," Astoria smiled widely at Lady Cornfoot gratefully, "tulips are one of my favourites." She fought the urge to courtesy at the stately woman in her sitting room, because for some reason it seemed oddly appropriate in this situation.

"Oh, Astoria is always keeping our garden looking beautiful. We're very lucky that someone in the family inherited my mother's green thumb, otherwise our garden would really be in a state."

It was quite possibly the first time that Astoria had heard her mother give her a quasi compliment. Her mother had always preferred Daphne, and everyone knew it.

"I'd love to see the garden." Stephen Cornfoot finally broke his silence. His eyes hadn't left the young woman in front of him since she had entered the room. "It seems you have put a lot of work into it and someone should appreciate it."

Both of the older women in the room seemed to beam with happiness; his interruption was undoubtedly masterfully manipulated by the two complacent women sharing tea in the Greengrass sitting room. How long had they been waiting for him to show some interest in Astoria?

"Oh, Astoria, do show him around. We've probably been boring the poor young man to tears with gossip of our dear friends. I'm sure he'd much prefer your company." Priscilla Greengrass insisted.

To be quite frank, it was the last thing Astoria wanted to do. The last time she and Stephen Cornfoot had spent time alone together, they had exchanged words, and not very kind words, at that. He had acted like a cad, and she, an immature child. It was a wonder that he was sitting in front of her today, acting like he was seemingly still interested in her.

"It will give him a little break from the company of his mother as well!" His mother chimed in helpfully, a small grin on her face.

That was when Astoria knew that it wasn't as much a suggestion, as a command. And so silently, Stephen stood up and joined her at the doorway from which she had never moved and silently the two of them headed off towards the garden.

Astoria wished she could say that the silence was awkward, but more fell into the category of companionable as their footsteps echoed along the stone passageway of her house. They walked almost perfectly in sync, despite his significantly longer legs and her admittedly quicker gait. The silence stretched on until they had finally reached the garden, at which point Astoria began discussing all the flowers she could see. She was just about to feel like she was writing a dissertation on baby's breath when he finally interrupted her.

"I'm sorry."

She halted, cutting herself off mid-sentence and stared at him in wonder.

"What?"

"About what I said the last time we spoke. I was out of line, and I apologise."

She bit her lip to stop herself from saying something mean and churlish like 'yes, you were completely out of line, bastard' and instead settled for a small smile and demure glance at him before saying,

"Don't worry about it."

"No, seriously."

She giggled. "Stephen, really. It's fine. I was more than a bit out of line as well. I tend to do that occasionally. I'm still a young girl at heart."

He smile shyly at her, his dark eyes looking at her fondly.

"My mum slapped me over the head when she'd found out what I'd said."

That really made her laugh, she threw her head back and her eyes crinkled with joy as she positively cackled at him. He blushed slightly and she noticed as her glee was finally reduced to random chuckles and giggles.

"You told your mum?"

His cheeks turned an even duskier pink and she grinned at his absolute cuteness. Just the other day she was writing him off, just a few moments ago she was calling him a cad in her head! But Stephen Cornfoot had proved her wrong, and at the very least she decided they could form a beautiful friendship. At the very most however….she imagined herself standing up next to him, he in black dress robes, she in a beautiful white dress, surrounded by red tulips, a ring on her finger, at sunset.

But that was silly. She was getting ahead of herself. It didn't matter that she had been secretly planning her wedding since she was young enough to know what a wedding was. It didn't matter that she often thought of the wedding more than the actual marriage (something that she still wasn't sure that she wanted) but it slightly mortified and scared her at how easily she could imagine her future with this man.

Her mother would be so proud to know that she had finally gotten into her head. A wedding fantasy with Stephen Cornfoot, really. In the past the wedding had more often than not ben centered on the floral arrangements, the bridesmaids, dresses, and the set up than the actual groom. She had never really put a face on the man that would stand beside her, except to assure her imagination that he was, indeed, handsome.

"She's kind of my best friend," Stephen muttered ashamedly, looking away from her.

"That's adorable!"

Astoria nearly squealed with joy. Men who loved their mothers were always a weakness for her.

He still refused to make eye contact, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand embarrassedly but managed to mutter a quiet,

"Shut up."

"No seriously, I love that. I wish I were best friends with my mother."

She thought back to when she had first met Susan Cornfoot, how the lady had leaned in and whispered in her ear 'He told me I would like you.' It made her long to have that kind of closeness with someone, anyone really.

"It's kind of embarrassing, really." He countered, "but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my mum. She was the one that insisted we have an impromptu tea here today, so I could get the chance to apologise. She's amazing."

"She really is. I mean, I don't know her that well, but she's been very kind to me the few times that I have met her."

"She really likes you, you know. She thinks you have spunk."

Astoria giggled and looked away, grabbing a cluster of baby's breath and pulling it from earth, intending to make a beautiful bouquet for the lady in question.

"I like her as well, we seem to have the same sense of humor, which is always nice at those dry events that we so often attend. They can be torture if you don't have a friend to keep you company."

He groaned in response. "Oh, I know. I've accompanied my mum a few times just for the sake of it and I nearly ran out of there several times. I don't know how she does it."

The two companions talked for a while longer, and the sun began to slowly set in the sky before they made their way back inside the Greengrass Manor. Despite her first reservations, Astoria found herself enjoying the time she had spent with Stephen—they rarely stopped talking, they had discussed books and Hogwarts times (excluding any inflammatory subjects, of course), even a little bit of quidditch and flowers—favourite things of each, respectively. She enjoyed hearing his opinions on certain events and loved the way he laughed so easily.

Stephen was a nice man; imperfect and slightly judgmental, but wholly a good guy. And someone that, ultimately, Astoria could see herself becoming very close with. As the two entered the sitting room again, they saw that another person had joined the sitting party.

Theodore Nott sat next to Daphne, her hand clasped around his thigh as he stared off into the distance. Not for the first time, Astoria wished she was gifted in Legillimency, she was certain that the inside of her future brother-in-law's mind was fascinating.

His dark hair contrasted her sister's fair halo and she found herself smiling at their graceful contentment. He would be a welcome, comforting presence in her family. Perhaps finally calming the rifts between the three girls that were so often together that they ended up squabbling.

"Oh, dear, Priscilla, I'm sure we have managed to overstay our welcome!" Susan Cornfoot leapt to her feet, starting Priscilla from her almost dozing state.

"It was wonderful of you to stop by, Susan. We must do this again sometime!" Priscilla exclaimed excitedly, as if they had never stopped talking, not even once. She acted as if the two were best friends instead of co-conspirators to get their children happily married.

Astoria was not blind; she knew this was a set-up. But she could enjoy the positive attention whilst it lasted, at least.

"Here you go, Lady Cornfoot, I made this bouquet for you with the help of your son," she handed the beautiful bouquet to Stephen's mother and smiled as she caught Stephen's amused yet fond glance.

He must have seen that she was slightly sucking up to his mother, but she honestly could not stop it. She enjoyed both of the Cornfoots' presence too much to get on their bad side by behaving improperly.

"Astoria, dear, why don't you join me for dinner later this week?" Lady Cornfoot questioned innocently. "We would love to have you by our manor, especially after you have so wonderfully entertained our son in yours."

Again, she fought the urge to curtsey. It was as if being in the presence of Lady Cornfoot was like being in the presence of muggle royalty that she had read so much about.

"If you insist," she said charmingly, "I would love to."

"Oh I most absolutely do! Stephen will come round to pick you up, let's say on Wednesday? We need to give our cooks the proper amount of preparation time!"

"That sounds absolutely wonderful, Susan!" Priscilla interrupted, "Our Wednesday was going to be dreadfully boring for Astoria anyway, Theodore, Daphne and I were going to go over wedding plans, yet again. You'll be doing her a favour!"

So it was decided that Stephen would pick Astoria up at approximately 6 o'clock sharp on Wednesday night and she would dine with the Cornfoots that evening. Astoria was nearly positive that her mother had just made up the wedding planning plans, but was too excited about the prospect of getting out of the house without a chaperone to really care too much.

As the Cornfoots stepped into the fireplace and quickly left with a flash of green, Astoria looked around and caught the knowing smiles of the three remaining people in the sitting room.

Decidedly ignoring them, she walked off to her room, humming along the way and fully intending to start the book that Stephen had recommended to her and perhaps even finish it by the time Wednesday came around.

A/N: Okay...So I know it's been forever. Seriously, almost two years now, which is completely unacceptable. But I finished Girl Behind the Curtain and then I thought I was leaving and then I lost my motivation...and all of these excuses are really crappy, of which I am fully aware. However, I really do love this story. It is so fun for me to write about Scorpius' parents for a change-and I promise, there is more Draco coming up! I hope that you enjoyed this update as much as I enjoy writing and I hope to be updating more frequently from now on...

As always, let me know what you think! And thank you for not abandoning the story! :)

~wwccd