Solivagant

Chapter Two

Walburga stood up from under the table. Both women's eyes met. Astra's filled with fire and resentment, Walburga's filled with intrigue and wonder. "I always knew you were the stronger one of your siblings, young Astra. Your Lord would be proud to have you on his side." Walburga lifted her sleeve as her dark mark pulsed on her cold skin.

Astra shot up out of bed. Her breathing had become erratic and the hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. She felt unsafe. She didn't know why, no one knew where she was, or who she was with. She looked over to see James sleeping peacefully, the glasses on his face slightly askew. She needed air. Her lungs were screaming at her, her mind still plagued with the memory of that dreadful night.

She ripped the covers off of her body, balancing herself with the nightstand beside the bed. She was still in the outfit from the day before, the one she had changed into after the attack in the library. She made her way over to the door, grabbing the jumper that James had been wearing before he went to sleep along with her wand and walking to the door of the room of requirement.

Her lungs ached for air and she knew just where to go. The Astronomy Tower. No other place calmed her better than the tower where she could watch the stars. It was late. She could tell, the stars still burned in the sky through the windows of the corridors in the castle. The paintings were still fast asleep and the torches along the cobblestone walls were burned out.

She had been walking quickly using her wand to cast a dim light to guide her way. She felt as if she were running from something, someone. She had been walking so fast that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. A body slammed her into the wall beside a large tapestry, pulling it slightly from the wall and shoving her into the small space behind it. It was a small room with a singular window.

Astra pointed her wand at the stranger but all they did was shush her. She stood still, a dim light shone around the edges of the tapestry and faded as the person on the other side got farther from them. "Lumos." The person that had trapped Astra spoke. Sandy blonde hair and tired eyes met her vision. "Remus! What- why?" Astra couldn't get a word out, her heart was beating so fast she was sure the werewolf could hear it.

"I've been looking for you for bloody ages! What do you think you're doing! You have the whole castle scared to death! Is that James' jumper? Where is he? I swear I'm going to kill him too when I find him." Remus scolded the girl, he had so many questions and was letting his brain spit them out. He pulled the girl in for a hug.

"How did you find me, why are you up?" Astra held the lanky boy close, feeling comforted by the smell of chocolates and smoke. He had probably been sitting by the fireplace waiting on her and James to return.

"Let's not talk about it here, Filch is likely to return any moment." He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her out of the small space she was forced into. He pulled her by her hand down the corridors and up the stairs to the astronomy tower, knowing exactly where she was headed.

He took a seat next to the edge and pulled her with him, they sat soaking in the stars and allowing the silence to envelope them. "So, how exactly did you know where I was?" Astra's voice was quiet as she stared at the stars.

"I've been watching the map ever since Mcgonagall told us you and James had escaped." He pulled out the map and sat it down in front of them showing her that he had left it open and had it folded to the location of the tapestry they were hiding behind. "Does Sirius know where I am?"

"No, be glad I told him James had the map or he would have torn it into pieces looking for you. I sent him to the common room to wait for James to return so that he wouldn't know I had it. I've been sitting in the chair with the map spread across your bed in the hospital wing staring at it for hours. I think I have the entirety of Hogwarts memorized by now." They laughed lightly, Astra was thankful that Remus hadn't let Sirius find her first. She knew she would be in trouble then.

"Now, are you going to explain?" Remus looked at her with a smirk and bumped his shoulder into hers. She laughed and looked at her hands, fiddling with the rings on her fingers. "I had to get out of there Remus. I felt small and fragile sitting in the hospital wing. Everything was bothering me, the bright lights, the whistle of the breeze outside brushing past the window. I couldn't take it any longer. Everyone has been treating me as if I am not still me. Not the same Astra Black as they have spent the last few years with. I felt foreign, discluded."

"I'm sorry, we didn't know how to approach you, in case you'd still be anxious from the fight." He grabbed one of her hands and held it. Remus always knew how to comfort her. He looked scary with his scars and his height but in reality he was one of the strongest, kindest souls she knew. He was a true Gryffindor at heart.

"James understood that I wasn't going to talk until I felt comfortable. He took me to the room of requirement and we have been there ever since. I also told him some news that I need to tell you and the others." Astra went quiet again.

"The sun is almost up, how about we sit here and take a moment to just breathe. We can get the others and head back to where you and James have been staying and talk about the news, okay?" Remus looked her in the eye, she had never really had someone who understood her anxiety but with Remus it was just so easy to feel comforted. He was easy to talk to. She nodded her head and the two watched the sun rise hand in hand with small smiles on their faces.