An "Amicable" Chat

Draco was staring at the white lamp on his bedside table, not truly seeing it, when he heard Astoria in her high heeled shoes walking down the hallway to their bedroom. A split-second decision made him roll over and feign sleep so she would think he was asleep and leave. The tapping sound of the shoes stopped at the door, but a moment later the bed declined slightly as she sat down. The soft carpet in their room muffled the sound of her steps.

"Draco?" She tapped his shoulder.

Staying silent was tempting, but he knew that now that she was there, she would never leave.

"What do you want, Astoria?" He sighed and rolled onto his back. The white textured ceiling was more interesting than her so he chose to look there, instead.

The woman lay on the bed and turned to face him. "I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have snapped."

Anyone could hear there was no authenticity to her words, so Draco chuckled. "Do you still believe that I am in love with Granger?"

Astoria's expression changed to a grimace now that it was clear he hadn't been fooled by her theatrics.

"I can't lie."

"I see. What are you proposing we do, then?" His heartbeat sped as the prospect of being free from her filled his mind. Unfortunately, guilt immediately followed.

"Well," she hesitated, "we haven't been, and I think I speak for the both of us here, happy for quite some time. We have put up a solid front, don't you think? I don't know, though. Is it worth keeping this...whatever it is?"

He didn't have to think twice about it, already agreeing wholeheartedly. "No"--he shook his head-"it's not worth it."

No matter what happened next, even if marriage wasn't a part of his future, he knew he would be happier away from this sham of a marriage.

"Astoria," Draco turned to find that she was already staring at him, a sort of indifference on her face, "have you ever loved me? Honestly?" It was merely a curiosity, the question, since he couldn't recall a time either of them had used the word "love".

"Honestly?" She looked surprised at his inquiry. "No, I haven't."

"I feel the same," he agreed, turning his gaze to the ceiling again. He felt oddly relieved knowing they both felt the same way.

The silence that followed was pleasant but never happened with her around, so when he glanced over to see that she was sitting up and staring at him with her mouth dropped open, he couldn't help but laugh.

"What? What's with the face?"

"Never? You never loved me? Wow." She stood up.

"Wait a minute," Draco chuckled, "let me get this straight, Astoria. You're mad because I've never loved you? It's okay for you to not love me but I have to love you? Okay! Good thing we cleared that up."

She stomped out of the room, a grown-ass woman.