Astoria shrugged and gestured carelessly with her wand hand. Her nails were painted silver and caught in the light.
"People don't know, but he didn't even live here. We got married and he — he just left me here in this house. Never so much as gave me a tour of manor. On our wedding day he brought me here and left me in the foyer; didn't bother to consummate it until I was supposed to be fertile. And then — once the healers determined I was barren — Draco didn't come here at all. He just — disappeared. I never knew where he was. I couldn't contact him. I thought maybe I could get his attention if I made him jealous but he never cared what I did. Eventually — I accepted that was how he was."
The bitterness of Astoria's expression twisted her face into something both ugly and terrifying.
"But then you came along." Astoria's voice shook with resentment. "And then he moved in and he turned the entire estate upside down in order to ward it and make sure it was safe. Took you for walks and gave you a tour of the house."
Hermione started to open her mouth to point out that Malfoy had been ordered to do all those things.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear from you," Astoria said sharply, baring her teeth.
The newspaper was crumpling in Astoria's clenched fist and smoldering faintly.
"And then Graham started paying attention to me," Astoria said, her voice trembled as though she were holding back tears. "He was so sympathetic and kept me company at all the events that Draco never showed for. He wanted to see everything I had done and he noticed all the things I'd done to impress Draco. He wanted me to show him all around the manor to see how I'd decorated it. He had the idea of a New Year's Party here at the Manor. And dinner parties. And even an equinox party on the veranda of the North Wing. He was very specific about it being the North Wing..."
Astoria's voice trailed off and she stared out the window for several seconds.
"When I heard Draco had killed Graham I thought 'Draco has finally noticed, he was just busy before.' But then," Astoria twitched, "it crossed my mind — Graham first approached me the week after the Daily Prophet wrote that vile article about you living here. He wanted so badly to come to this estate rather than go to a hotel or his townhouse. He was quite insistent. He had to see the estate, the manor. All the rooms, even if we had to break through wards to get in. Then it crossed my mind how Graham always tended to disappear; during New Year's, and the dinner parties, and the garden party. He was always... disappearing."
Astoria fell silent for several seconds. Hermione cringed, unable to speak; unable to clarify. She didn't know that it would make any difference even if she could.
"It was because of you," Astoria said at last. "Graham came here because of you. Draco killed him because of you. Graham was just using me! He was using me to get to you!"
Astoria flung the newspaper on the floor. The pages sprayed out on the wood floor, showing Malfoy coldly murdering Graham Montague in a continuous, black and white loop.
Draco Malfoy Publicly Kills Fellow Death Eater!
" Why do they care about you?" Astoria demanded, stepping toward Hermione and digging her wand sharply into Hermione's throat. "What's so special about you that Draco would move here, into this house that he clearly hates? That Graham would spend months using me to get to you? Why does anyone care about a Mudblood? Why does everyone think you're so important?"
The glint in Astoria's eyes as she glared at Hermione was manic.
Hermione started to open her mouth and Astoria slapped her sharply across the face.
"I don't want to hear your explanations!" Astoria snarled. "I warned you. I told you not to cause problems for me."
Astoria abruptly jabbed her wand up into Hermione's face toward her eyes. Hermione's chest constricted and she jerked her face away.
"You know," Astoria said in a trembling, lilting tone, grabbing Hermione by the chin. "Marcus says he can barely stand to look at his surrogate, because the hole in her head makes her a horror. Maybe Draco would spend less time obsessing over you if you had two."
Hermione stumbled back.
"Stay still," Astoria commanded.
Hermione froze and Astoria drew close again.
Malfoy was in Romania.
Astoria grabbed Hermione by the chin once again.
"Open your eyes wide, Mudblood," Astoria commanded.
Hermione could feel herself start shaking as her eyes widened.
"Please...don't!"
"Shut up," Astoria said coldly as she pulled Hermione's face closer. Astoria pressed the tip of her wand against the outer corner of Hermione's left eye; digging the tip back into the socket. She sneered into Hermione's face. "I hope I'm there when Draco sees you next. Even if he kills me, the satisfaction will be well worth it."