𝙒𝙤𝙡𝙛𝙨𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙚 || 𝙍. 𝙇𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙣

Lost Mouse

Asteria watched as her grey cat, Miles, played with a stuffed mouse. He rolled around on the floor with it, then lost it under her bed. He shot right after it and she could hear him thumping around underneath her bed as he tried to retrieve his lost toy.

A knock came from the door, causing Asteria's attention to turn towards it.

"Come in!" She called.

Her older brother, Oscar, entered the room. He looked as pale as ever. A fresh scar was etched across his face and a bandage was wound around his hand.

"Come on Ast, we're leaving," he said.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," she responded.

They were on their way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy to meet the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The reason for that was for the two siblings to get sorted. After being in Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning for nearly all of their academic life, their parents decided the magic their kids were learning there was no longer satisfactory. So the whole family moved to England in order for the kids to attend Hogwarts for Oscar's final year and Asteria's fifth.

Their father, Dorian, worked as an unspeakable at the Ministry of Magic in Bulgaria, meaning that he had to move jobs a lot. Ast remembered growing up in France before being sent away to Durmstrang. Now, her father's job was relocated to the Ministry of Magic in England, meaning that Ast and Oscar had to go with him.

Ast was glad that she wasn't at Durmstrang anymore, Durmstrang had a passion for the dark arts and it didn't really suit her. It was a shame that they didn't move earlier because now she was joining the fifth year, which was also known as O.W.L. examination year.

Her brother was also entering an examination year, N.E.W.T.s. So both siblings were going to be under a lot of pressure that year.

She weaved her way through boxes that still needed to be unpacked and headed downstairs to find her dad helping her mother, Tina, put her shoes on. Tina was currently seven months pregnant so it had a bit of a struggle recently trying to get the house ready for a new baby.

"Ready Ast?" Dorian asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Ast smiled.

They all walked over to the fireplace were they would be using the Floo Network to get to Hogwarts. Dorian took his daughter's hand and they were the first to go through the fireplace. Then Tina and Oscar followed.

Ast opened her eyes to find herself in a handsome office. Portraits of former headmasters lined the walls while silver trinkets rested on the high shelves. In the middle of the room was a very old man stroking a beautiful red phoenix.

"Good Afternoon, you must be Notts I believe?" he greeted, standing up to shake the family's hands.

"Wonderful to see you, Dumbledore." Tina said, allowing the man to seat her at the desk.

"And I you, Tina. Might I say, it has been a long time since you've walked these hallways."

"Yes, and I'm afraid I've given my troublesome nature to my daughter, Asteria here."

Dumbledore chuckled, "no worries, I'm sure she'd fit right in."

He indicated for Oscar and Ast to sit down at his desk and they complied. Oscar nervously looked around the office while Ast sat up proudly, wanting to make a good impression.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore," the man said, "I am the headmaster here at Hogwarts. You two, I assume, are Oscar and Asteria Nott if I'm not mistaken?"

Ast nodded, "yes we are, it's a pleasure to meet you Dumbledore."

"Very well then, if you would like to follow me and we can begin sorting ."

Dumbledore stood up and the kids followed him to a shelf where an old hat was perched. He picked it up and explained that it was the Sorting Hat. The hat was to decide which house each student would be in for the rest of their school years. He placed the hat on Oscar's head first.

"Gah!" The hat exclaimed, bursting to life. "This is earlier than I expected. Let's see what we have here. I see a hard-working future for you. You are patient and just and I know just where to put you... HUFFLEPUFF."

The sound of the hat bounced off the walls and silence filled the room. This was the first time a Nott had gotten something other than Slytherin. Oscar was in Hufflepuff, just like his mother but Dorian didn't care, he had been disowned from the Nott family when he expressed his disliking towards his family's pureblood frenzy.

The family applauded and Dumbledore congratulated Oscar. The hat was pulled off of Oscar's head and plonked onto Ast's.

She felt her stomach drop. She had been waiting for this day ever since summer began. She had read all about Hogwarts houses in Hogwarts: A History, yet she still had no idea which house she'd be placed in. Her parents thought she'd be in Ravenclaw due to her outstanding academic achievements while her brother and Durmstrang friends thought she'd be a Gryffindor. There was only one way to find out.

"Another one?" the hat growled, bursting to life once more. "I see wisdom here, a lot of it actually, but wait, there's something else, something bigger. I see courage and bravery. I know... GRYFFINDOR!"

It's yell filled her ears. She wasn't a Slytherin either. She was a Gryffindor, it seemed so fitting. Yet, the thought of living up to Gryffindor's expectations scared her a little.

She looked over at her parents, but they were having a conversation with Dumbledore. She heard the words 'troubled' and 'childhood'. They were talking about Oscar, about his secret, but they don't know hers.

She exchanged a glance with her brother and he shrugged. By now, he was used to the hushed voices and secrets.

                                          *****

A week later, they both woke up to find an owl from their head of houses, Professor McGonagall for Ast and Professor Smith for Oscar. Ast excitedly ripped her letter open and read its contents:

Dear Miss Asteria Nott,

As you are new, I have assigned two prefects to make sure that you are familiar with Hogwarts and its classes. Lily Evans and Remus Lupin are the prefects I've assigned. They're in your year so they will be doing their O.W.L. examinations as well.

Looking forward to meeting you when term begins.

Professor McGonagall
Head of Gryffindor house

Later that day, they went to Diagon Alley to get school supplies. As Oscar was of age, he and Ast went by themselves, earning stares from the passer-bys. They weren't staring at him like he was weird, just at the huge scar above his left eye, his werewolf scar.

Ast only needed new potion ingredients, school books, parchment and robes. Before they left Diagon Alley, they stopped off at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor. Just as they had finished paying, a group of boys came in. They looked her age.

The first boy had messy, raven-black hair and glasses. The second one had the same coloured hair but it was straight and went down to his shoulders, a cigarette was in his hands and he puffed smoke out of his mouth. The third boy was short and timid, he seemed to cower in the first two boys' shadow. The last boy was tall and pale, with light brown hair and a scar on his left cheek. They were all wearing Hogwarts robes.

The last boy and Ast made eye contact for a second, but she quickly looked away. Oscar and Ast went back onto the main street to head home. She clung tightly onto Oscar as he apparated away since she was still underage.

In three days time, they would be starting at their new school. Hopefully she'd be able to make some friends. And just maybe, she might be able to see the group of boys again. They seemed like the type of people Ast would be friends with.

A/N: hello again! For those of you who've read this story before, hi! It's good to see you again. You might have noticed that a few things have changed but the general story is still the same.

If you're new, welcome! I'm happy to see you too! <3