Junior Cottontail ❁ 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧

March 26th, 1978

With a sharp intake of breath, Aster rolls over onto her side, the fake sunlight hitting her eyes. Her hands curl against the soft, silk, pastel yellow sheets as her eyes flutter open. A soft smile instantly appears on her face but she keeps her eyes trained on the painted window. A few seventh years back in her first year had the brilliant idea of creating fake sunlight in the dorms. They painted windows onto one of the walls and enchanted the "scenery" to mimic what it was like outside. It's the closest they'll ever get to actually seeing sun down in the basement. Though it could always be worse. They could've been sorted into Slytherin and have to sleep with the giant squid. Aster loves the windows. She's always loved waking up to the warmth of the sun on either her back or her face. It reminds her of home.

Home!

Aster springs up, quickly tosses the sheets off her, and rounds the bed, collapsing against the chest she keeps her clothes in. A pastel blue basket with shiny (not to mention sparkly) blue ribbon sits atop the chest. Almost as if it were a trophy. There's a smaller one--lavender in color--that sits slightly behind it.

Aster's smile grows as she nudges the basket from her father out of the way, dragging the one from Remus to the forefront. She sorts through the assorted chocolates he bought her. Most are either dark chocolate or milk chocolate with orange creme (both being her favorite kinds). She digs out a pair of earrings from the far back of the basket. She giggles softly to herself, trying not to wake the rest of her dormmates, as she takes out the Easter egg earrings she's currently wearing and replaces them with the bunnies from Remus. There's a locket in her basket too. It's a simple silver heart with their initials carved into it on the front. Aster gently pops it open to reveal a moving photograph of her and Remus. He's got his arms wrapped around her tightly--one draping over her shoulder, the other wrapped around her waist, both meeting in the middle. She's pressed close to his chest. Both are smiling brightly. The picture moves from them smiling for the camera (she believes Lily's the one taking the picture) to then afterwards where Remus swoops in for a kiss. Aster brushes her thumb along the picture before closing the locket and tying it around her neck. She presses a kiss against the cool metal before letting it rest against her chest. Aster rummages through the paper grass in the basket just to make sure she's not missing anything.

Turns out she is.

She pulls out a small bag with a note attached. Knowing Remus would've wanted her to read the note first and then open the bag, she does the exact opposite. She lets the contents of the bag fall out onto her lap before unfolding the parchment. Two rings. Her brow furrows as she looks to the note.

A token of our love, it reads.

She snorts and holds one of the rings up, inspecting it carefully. It's a plain, silver band--similar to the locket--with a heart carved in the center. She brings the second one up to eye level. This is fancier than the first ring (which isn't to discredit the first ring--both are equally gorgeous). It's a thinner silver band with a diamond in the shape of a heart in the center. Raising an eyebrow, Aster sticks the two rings together. They fit perfectly.

"A token of our love," she repeats softly before frowning. "Are these both mine?" She looks up at the note. There's nothing else on there. She flips it over to check the backside but there's nothing on that side. She bites her lip before slipping both rings back into the bag then resting the bag against her chest. She'll have to remember to put the bag in her pocket when she gets dressed.

Aster discards all the boxes her jewelry came back into the basket before sifting through the one from her father. That basket has the most chocolate of all varieties. It's never bothered her that he doesn't specifically give her her favorite chocolates. In fact, she's rather relieved. If he loaded her basket with dark chocolate or chocolates with orange creme, she'd be the size of Hogwarts by now. Or she'd simply no longer appreciate those two flavors. She yanks the chocolate bunny out of the basket before sifting through the grass, making sure she doesn't miss anything like she almost did in Remus' basket. There's a pastel blue beanie at the bottom that she quickly dusts off and tugs on, not caring that she's yet to brush her hair, along with a new set of paints and a new scrapbook. She brushes the cover of the book before flipping through the pages. They're empty now but she's got a lot of pictures that didn't fit in her last scrapbook (a lot are just pictures of her and Remus--not that she's complaining). With a bright smile, she sets the paints and scrapbook aside the now completely empty basket before getting up.