A Last Dance

AN: Just shy of 300 votes on this one. Hope everyone enjoys. 

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Astoria- Asli Atil

It sickened her to sit there and watch it all. Her parents forced her to come to this bleeding ball, and every second felt worse than the last. It was horrendous having to suffer the pomp and circumstance of hypocritical purebloods who, at best, just a few years prior happily ignored the rising strength of Voldemort. Now they sit here pretending like they somehow shared in the victory. Half of them helped fund the bloody monster.

If that wasn’t bad enough, then there was Draco. There was a part of her that still thought he really loved her. That the end of their relationship really had just been the result of the brutal pressures placed on him by his parents, and the blood curse that afflicted her, but every second she spent watching him fawn over Emma Vaisey made that fleeting thought more difficult to reconcile. Last year, when it was him and me here at this same ball, he didn’t dance with me… not once… even when I begged.  He’s been out there half a dozen times with her. I was nothing more than a trophy. One to be worn to show just how much he’d changed.

It was a hard potion to swallow. And it made her cursed blood boil in her veins. If it weren’t for the fact it would cause her no end of trouble with her parents, she was of half a mind to make a scene. And even that threat only held so much sway over her. With the way the curse is progressing, I probably won’t be around long enough to suffer any consequences. So, why not? I have half a dozen potions keeping me going, so why not make the most of them?

Living with a blood curse over your head your entire life gave you a certain... perspective on things. Though, I wish I’d taken more risks. What’s the point of being cautious when you’re gonna be dead a hundred years before your time. She swirled the elf-made wine in her glass, knowing that the morose thoughts were only fueled by the drink. Those morose thoughts had become more common in the last few weeks, as the curse left her in bed until noon, and shivering even on warm summer nights.

If there was one bit of solace she took, it was that even in her deteriorating state, she was still stunning in comparison to Draco’s newest pursuit. Her coal black hair was up in an elaborate bun and held up by an extravagant piece of polished bronze. Her dress was blue, picked out to show some Ravenclaw pride as she sat amongst dozens of Slytherins. The garment fell all the way to the floor but hugged the shape of her legs all the way up to her slim hips. The bodice was tight and accentuated her bust and while it wasn’t as big as her older sisters, there was still plenty there to admire.  She drew a few whispers from hoary biddies that still clung to Victorian traditions, and she was happy for it.

“I know you’re supposed to swirl it before you taste it, but that just seems excessive.” The voice behind her was deep and clearly amused.

Startled, Astoria couldn’t stop her smoky blue eyes from widening in surprise when she saw who was there. Harry Potter had one large hand placed on the back of her chair as he leaned over and smiled at her. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him since finishing Hogwarts, but it was the first time he’d said anything to her. Draco always did his best to avoid the Man-Who-Conquered, and so she’d never gotten an opportunity. And he didn’t exactly have the time for a Ravenclaw two years younger than him when he was at Hogwarts.

He still wore circular glasses, but they no longer looked as though they’d been mended half a hundred times. His unruly hair, that she heard more than one girl lament being unable to run their hands through, was the same as ever. And his bright emerald eyes did nothing to hide his enjoyment to her reaction.

“I’m… just too busy thinking to drink it I suppose.” It was only then that she noticed quite a few eyes were on them. Draco’s included, and she could feel his seething jealousy from across the room. That sort of attention was something that she wasn’t used to, not even her time with Draco making her accustomed to that level of obvious scrutiny. Considering they were well out of the way, it really was quite remarkable. Do none of you people have anything better to do?

“Thinking about what?” He asked her.

“My own unfortunate circumstances,” She admitted quietly, not in the mood to put on airs and lie about her own thoughts.

“A beautiful woman like you at a party like this should be having a good time, not wallowing in a far off corner.” He gestured to the seat next to her, “Mind if I sit?”

“Be my guest.” Astoria didn’t remember him being quite this confident back at Hogwarts, and she couldn’t say she disliked it.

“So, what’s so important that you’ve been worrying that glass half the night?” Astoria blushed at the underlying implication that he’d been watching her all night to know what she’d been doing for half of it.

There was an earnest in his eyes that made her want to tell him, “The hypocrisy of all of this…” she gestured to the room, “my ex making a fool of himself,” Harry snorted and glanced over at Draco, whose eyes were still very much on the two of them, “and the fact this will probably be the last one I ever get to come to.”

That caught him off guard, and everything about his demeanor changed. The news seemed to panic him, “What? Why?”

“I have a rare blood curse,” she explained, and she could actually see his mind working the second she said it, “and no, I’m afraid there’s no cure. It pops up in my family every few generations. It was placed on us years ago by some long forgotten family.”

It was funny watching him process that information. If there was one thing that Astoria knew about Harry, it was that he wanted to protect people, even people he didn’t know. It must be right frustrating to hear there’s nothing to be done to help me. Not in his nature to just let that sort of thing go. A muscle in his jaw ticked slightly before he visibly softened, “So, why are you here then?”

“Because to miss it would be an embarrassment to my parents and my family.” She leaned in and whispered loud enough that only he could hear, not that there was anyone eavesdropping, “I have six different potions in my system that will last until tomorrow morning. At which point I’ll be dead to the world for at least the next week, might even be forever.” Finishing with a giggle, she could tell he didn’t find her macabre joke nearly as funny as she did, but he managed a smile for her all the same.

Then he surprised her by completely changing the subject, “What was Hogwarts like for you then? I’m always curious how it was for people that weren’t subject to potential death threats every year.” The unladylike laughter that bubbled in her throat would have mortified her mother, but she didn’t much care. She expected she was just a quick, albeit pretty, distraction. One that would no doubt irritate Draco, which was something he still took a great deal of pleasure in even a few years after their time at Hogwarts. But here he was asking her about her time at Hogwarts.

The vindictive part of her that enjoyed Draco’s anger quickly became entirely forgotten as she fell into conversation with him. They talked about everything and anything. He seemed genuinely interested in her admittedly mundane experiences at their alma mater, even while he regaled her with the true stories of his time at the school. There was so much speculation about all of it, and many, her own sister included, didn’t believe half of the rumors. As it turns out, truth is stranger than fiction.

She didn’t know how long they sat there, lost in one another, but it didn’t much matter to her either. She couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed herself so much just talking to someone. There was a wittiness to him that she wasn’t expecting, a dry humor that had her laughing more often than not. And as the night wore on, she found herself leaning in closer to him.

Feeling entirely at ease, she had no problem ghosting her fingers along his forearm as she giggled at his stories about Dobby the house elf, “How many socks did he have?”

“Fifty pairs at least? I got him a pair for Christmas.” She’d never heard such fondness directed at a house elf by any wizard she’d ever met, but then considering she was often in the company of conceited purebloods that wasn’t surprising.

Astoria was always a bit odd in that regard, her own family questioning why she was so kind to their own elf, “I’ve never understood the treatment of house elves, Dilly has always been so sweet to me. Every little thing I ask for she does for me. She’s just… there for me. She even used to sneak me sweets when I was younger.”

“Dobby was one of the bravest people I’ve ever known… and more loyal than any Hufflepuff,” his voice was thick, “He died when he saved me from Malfoy Manor.”

Astoria didn’t know that, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry.” She laced her slender fingers between his own calloused ones and gave him a comforting squeeze.

“Thank you.” Harry gave squeezed back. They sat there for a moment, just comfortable in one another’s company. It was only then that she noticed that the crowd had begun to thin. How long have we been talking?

There were still a few people on the dance floor waiting for the next tune to start. The orchestral strings started ringing across the hall, and it brought a soft smile to her lips. Harry noticed and asked her softly, “What?”

“This is Rosen aus dun Suden, my favorite waltz.” She told him. Closing her eyes, she just let the music wash over her.

That only lasted until she felt him stand beside her, snapping them open she found that he was offering his hand, “Care to dance?”

He’s definitely learned a thing or two since Hogwarts. There were plenty of stories during her second year about the Yule Ball, and Harry could never avoid being a focal point of them. He’d had just one clumsy dance with his date before begging off for the rest of the night, to the consternation of more than one girl hoping to dance with him.

Taking his hand, she let him pull her to her feet, “I’d love to.” They moved together to the center of the room, and while every eye that remained in the room was on them, she only had eyes for him. There was no part of her that cared about her parents watching her or Draco, all she cared about were the emerald eyes that were looking down at her.

Taking her waist in his hand, it sent a shiver of desire straight down her spine. Astoria had never felt anything quite like it in her life. They fell into the rhythm of the music as he twirled her around the room with practiced ease. He wasn’t the most skilled partner she’d ever danced with, but he was already her favorite. Most purebloods learn to dance from the age of five after all. But he’d clearly taken lessons since his abysmal showing at the Yule Ball.

The way he looked down at her with those captivating emerald eyes sent her heart fluttering. And she couldn’t help but notice he smelled of wood and wand polish. She didn’t want to stop the light blush that came to her cheeks at his obvious attentions. They glided across the dance floor, well away from the few other pairs on the floor. They were just lost in one another as the melody echoed around them.

As the song came to its end, he twirled her and held her close. Astoria felt aflame everywhere he pressed against. Biting her bottom, she was tempted to lean up and capture his own. From the way his eyes darkened at the sight, she imagined he was thinking much the same. Now that would be an entirely different sort of scene to make. I’d wager quite a bit more fun too.

It took her a long moment to realize that they were alone on the dance floor and that the band was packing up. Those few attendees left gave the departing band a round of applause, but Harry and Astoria were too caught up in each other, “Thank you for that.” She told him, unable to hold back her smile.

“My pleasure,” He smiled back, “Had I known you wanted to dance, I wouldn’t have spent all night talking your ear off.”

“No, don’t dare apologize for that.” She told him softly, “I wouldn’t have traded that for anything. And besides, if I was going to have one more dance, I wanted it to be to my favorite song.”

The reminder of her circumstances brought a sadness to his eyes. He seemed to be wrestling with himself before he came to decision. Leaning in, he whispered low in her ear and it took all of her willpower not to whimper at the feel of it. It didn’t help that it added to the pooling heat between her thighs, “Would you come home with me tonight?”

Her mind froze at the question. Honestly, there was nothing in the world she would like more, but she knew that it would send tongues wagging. But then, when will I have another chance to abscond away with a handsome man. This time next month I probably won’t even be here, might as well make the most of it while I can. Of all the things that night that she’d considered, this was certainly the most tempting.

Pulling away from her ear, they were so very close to one another.  Swallowing thickly, she found it hard to find her voice but she nodded her head shakily and managed to get out, “I… I think I would like that.” He absolutely beamed at her and she couldn’t help but do the same back.

Reaching down he grabbed her hand in his and escorted her off the dance floor. Eyes were on them, including her parents’, but that didn’t stop either of them as they just headed to the floo. Oh, I’m going to hear about this when I get home.

She didn’t remember getting to the floo, or the words he spoke as emerald flames engulfed them. She was just much too caught up in the moment. What she did know was that she ended up in an exquisite foyer, but he didn’t give her much time to admire it.

He cupped her cheeks in each hand, wonderfully gentle with her. And leaned down to press his lips into hers. It was… perfect, far better than any she’d had before, and it sent her heart beating rapidly in her chest.  At no point in her relationship with Draco had she ever felt like this, he’d been prim and proper and everything a pureblood heir was meant to be. There’d never been such beautifully human passion between them.

But any thought of Draco was far from her mind, as she melted into his firm body. It felt like he was made of stone, firm and unyielding against her feminine body. He pulled back and she leaned up on tiptoes to chase him but he managed to get away from her with a chuckle, “Impatient?”

“Very.” She told him breathlessly. Squealing, she wasn’t expecting him to cup her bum and lift her up. He moved her like she was weightless in his arms and Astoria could only wrap her arms around his neck to steady herself as he started walking them toward the stairs.

“Well, as a gentleman I don’t think I should keep you waiting.”

Giggling, Astoria threaded her fingers through his unruly hair, “I would’ve been fine in the foyer.”

“You deserve more than that,” he told her softly and it made her heart sing, “so much more…”

The door to his bedroom opened with just a slight push of his magic. Such a causal use of wandless magic was dead sexy. She didn’t have long to dwell on it though as he deposited her on the downy sheets of his bed.  Laying back on her elbows, she could only watch as he pulled on the collar of his robes and started stripping right at the foot of the bed.

Her breath hitched needily when he pulled his torso was revealed. His entire upper body was lightly muscled and he she wanted to dig her fingers into his defined abdomen. He loosened the string of his trousers but didn’t take the time to actually push them down and reveal the prize underneath. Instead, he stepped close to her and pushed her legs open.

The smell of her aroused sex drifted heady and fragrant in the room. The sheer enormity of her own arousal had her blushing before she even felt his fingers traveling up her thigh. Her skin felt like it was on fire with every touch even through the fabric of her stockings. Then the gorgeous bastard had the gall to grab her hips and pull her right to the edge of the bed, before kneeling down and putting his head beneath her skirts.

His hot breath touched the inside of her thigh, tantalizingly close to her dripping womanhood. It was pure, and erotic and the most wonderful thing she’d ever felt. He hasn’t even really touched me, yet. How the hell am I going to handle it when he does?

She didn’t have to wait long to get her answer as he flipped up her dress and hooked his finger in the soaked gusset of her knickers. A strand of her arousal stuck to the fabric as he pulled it away, and he gave a deep, guttural groan that went right to her drooling quim, “Fuck… you’re stunning.”

“I… oh…” Whatever she was going to say was lost as he licked her slit. He attacked her with the need of a man who just found the elixir of the gods. It was something she’d never experienced before, she’d heard rumors of it from other girls but never had the pleasure of it herself.

Eyes rolling into the back of her head, it was pure bliss. And then he brought his finger up and slid one into her gripping heat. It sent her out of her mind with the pleasure. Her entire world became fixated on the incredible pleasure he was pulling from her body with every firm press of his tongue and prodding of his long fingers.

Squish. Squish. Squish. Astoria had never been so wet in her life, and the lewd sounds coming from her sex were leaving her lightheaded. There was a pressure in her stomach building with every second. An incredible feeling that she’d never experienced before in any of her own explorations. It was absolutely exquisite, the sort of thing that she thought only existed in romance novels. But it just grew and grew within her like a cord pulled to the point of snapping, “Oh… so… so close…. Harry.”

His digits brushed against her barrier, and he pulled them back. She could tell it surprised him but it didn’t deter him. Instead, his lips moved up to her tiny, engorged clit and then he sucked it in. His tongue swiped back and forth impossibly fast, and it proved too much as the cord broke.

“Oh! Oh! Yes!” The muscles in her neck went taut as she couldn’t contain her own screams of unadulterated pleasure.  Her vision went black at the edges as she shuddered again and again through her rapturous peak, and she didn’t even realize she had a white knuckled grip on his hair. Her pussy spasmed around his prodding fingers as she covered them and his mouth with her squirting essence.

All through it, Harry just kept gently spurring her on, prolonging her incredible high as long as he could. Finally, oversensitive and unable to take any more, she pushed his head away. She looked down and the sight of her juices staining his chin was enough to make her pulse with need, “You… are the sexiest thing… I’ve ever seen.”

“I can relate.” He told her as he laid himself over her. Without hesitation she accepted the kiss he offered, and she found that she enjoyed her taste. Her hands weren’t idle, going to the waist of his trousers and pushing them down.

Managing to get them down to the middle of his thighs, she felt his length pop out of the confines and slap heavily against her belly. That… is big. There was a surprising weight to it, and she could feel a wet spot just near her bellybutton as he leaked precum onto her lovely gown.

When he pulled away and she looked down between them, her eyes could only widen. His cock was as long as her forearm and a bit bigger around than her wrist. He could see her concern and of course he thought of her first, “We’ll only do what you’re comfortable with…” his voice was sweet and concerned, and she didn’t think it should be this easy to fall for someone, “I want this night to be perfect for you.”

Astoria smiled and ran her finger along his forearm, “I want you. Just… be gentle.”

“Of course.” He kissed her and took a hold of her hips again, moving them both further up the bed until her head laid on the fluffy pillows at the headboard. When he pulled away this time, she pushed her knees out as far as they would go and happily offered herself to him. Grabbing himself at the base, he rested his spongy dome on her sex, right on her clit. A little moan escaped her as a shiver of pleasure shot through her spine.

“All you need to do is tell me to stop and I will.” He assured her once more before he popped his cockhead into her tiny, tight pussy.

“Oh… gods…” Just the first couple inches stretched her in ways she’d never thought possible. Astoria closed her eyes when she felt him prodding against the barrier. Before he pushed through, he leaned down to kiss her. It was painful, and she could feel the heat of blood, but it was far from the worst pain she’d experienced in her life.

Her hand drifted down to his hard bum and she gave him a squeeze of encouragement. I want more, Harry. Please give it to me. He never broke the kiss as he burrowed deeper and deeper into her body. The pain gave way little by little, replaced by the incredible bliss of being so wonderfully full. She gasped into his mouth when he scraped against a particularly fantastic patch of rough flesh deep in her sex.

When his balls rested against her bum, he finally pulled away. Astoria looked down to see her taut lips hugging tightly to the base of his cock. It was obscene and brilliant and the most incredible things she’d seen in her entire life. She could feel every pulse of his heartbeat, so tight was her pussy around his veiny length.

“Please…” She begged him needily. Words were difficult as her world became focused on the pure high of his cock wrapped snuggly in her heat.

But that was more than enough for him to understand because he felt the same desperate yearning. His thrusts were firm but cautious, ever careful not to cause her any pain. Harry plowed into her with incredible control even as she started rippling around his length with her first orgasm.

“Hard… harder…” she begged as she looked down to see his plundering length covered in her creamy cum, “Please… I want…” She didn’t need to tell him more than once as he started delivering body-shaking thrusts that had her squeaking and moaning every time he bottomed out inside of her.

She came again, and then again, soaking the sheets below her bum. Her mind was absolutely addled, blissed out in a haze of exquisite sex. It was only when she felt him throbbing inside of her that she returned to herself. He made to pull away, to finish on her belly, but she wasn’t having it. Her legs moved up to his hips and pulled him in deep, “Inside… I need it… inside…”

The animalistic growl that came from his throat was absolutely sinful. The unreserved neediness of it made her shudder through one last orgasm as she felt him fill the deepest parts of her. It was hot, ridiculously hot, all the way in her womb. His thick seed painted her white pussy white. The muscle of his bum was tight beneath her legs as he quaked through shot after shot. It was too much for her to contain and it leaked from where they were joined as he finally finished.

Caught up in their own ecstasy, neither of them noticed the flash of magic that emanated around them. When he finally recovered, he waved his hand and her gown disappeared from her body and she saw it hanging on the door to his bathroom. Both naked, he pulled her under the covers and they fell asleep in each other’s arms. I’ll regret this in the morning, when the last of the potions have worn off.

As she drifted to sleep, she whispered, “Worth it.”

When she woke the next morning, it was to the rustling of sheets as Harry dropped back into bed beside her. There was a tray of pancakes and eggs, and all other manner of breakfast items. Stretching, Astoria felt… good… great even. That shouldn’t be possible. I thought it’d be worse than ever after all that… exertion.

“Morning,” he smiled at her, emerald eyes alight with joy, “I made you breakfast.”

“I see that.” She told him, looking around bewildered. What is going on?

“Are you alright?” Harry asked, concern tinging his voice, “Is there something wrong?”

“The blood curse….” She started only for him to immediately go from joyful to concerned. Chuckling she continued, “Relax, I don’t understand what’s happened but… I feel great. Like it’s gone.”

“Is that not a good thing?”

Astoria smiled at him, small and sad, “It would be… but it’s not possible. The family that placed the blood curse on the House of Greengrass has been gone for… centuries.”

“Which family?”

“The Peverells.” Astoria could only furrow her brow in confusion as that caused him to whoop in joy.

Looking about ready to do a jig, he leaned in to give her a kiss, “Let me tell you a story.”