"We're what?!" Ast yelled.
Sirius immediately cowered away, dropping his voice to that of a murmur, "throwing a Halloween party."
"I don't know if you've noticed, Sirius, but we're in the middle of a war here!"
"Well I just thought it would be nice."
"The wedding was one thing, but this, no. Especially not in my house."
He averted Ast's gaze and bit his lip. Her stomach dropped.
"What have you done?" She demanded.
"I may or may not have invited a few people over,"
"Sirius, I'm the most wanted person by the Death Eaters right now."
"They're not gonna know, plus Halloween is tomorrow and I can't really cancel it now can I?"
"Sirius, the whole world knows about your parties. If you're throwing one, they'll know I'm there. Especially if it's in my house!"
"What's wrong?" Remus asked, coming into the living room.
"Your girlfriend is what's wrong!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I'm wrong? You're the one who wants to throw a party!" Ast shouted.
"Both of you shut it," Remus said. "You're acting like children."
"He's the one wanting to throw a party!" She protested.
"So let him."
"What?"
That took Ast by surprise, usually Remus was the one who wanted things to be in order, so she thought that he wouldn't be too enthusiastic about a party.
"Let him throw it,"
"Whatever," Ast said. "I'm going to Marlene's,"
"Wait," Remus called. "Could someone please explain what this is?"
He brought out a frying pan- well it was a frying pan except for the fact that it was completely flattened. Ast was just as confused as Remus.
"Oh that was me, my bad," Sirius said.
"How on earth did you- you must've bloody body slammed it!" Ast said.
Sirius giggled, "I was cooking."
"Sirius! How many times have we told you to stay out of the kitchen?" Remus demanded. "You and that kitchen are just the bane of my existence."
Ast was shaking her head. "This house is mental. And everyone's bloody deluded."
"So you're deluded too?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, after living with you two, my head just might as well spontaneously combust. Now if you excuse me, I really need to get to Marlene's."
She grabbed her coat and headed to her front door. She opened it and jumped as she saw someone raising their hand to knock.
Sirius. No, he looked like Sirius, but younger.
"Regulus?" She said.
"They told me Sirius would be here," Regulus said, his face looked grim.
"Yeah... Come in," Ast eyed him suspiciously.
What was he doing here? From what Sirius had told her, his family hated him. He was disowned when he ran away at 16.
Ast moved out of the way so he could come in, as he did, she spotted a gold chain hanging out of his coat pocket. She led Regulus into her living room, where Sirius and Remus were. Sirius's eyes widened in horror as he took in his brother.
"Reg?" He choked out.
"I need to talk to you, alone." Regulus said.
Ast looked at Sirius, waiting for him to tell her what to do. He gave her a small nod. She left the room and Remus was right on her heels. They exited the house and walked to Marlene's.
"What do you think that was about then?" Remus asked.
"Dunno, it must be serious though." She replied.
A few hours later, they arrived home. It seemed quiet, so Regulus must've left. They entered the living room to find Sirius staring into space. He looked terrified.
"Sirius?" Remus said.
Sirius looked up at them, tears in his eyes, "He's one of them."
*****
She woke up to the sound of an owl tapping at her window. For a second, she felt like she was at Hogwarts again. Her eyes fluttered open and she was greeted with mess that was her room.
She felt her bed shift and Remus stirred, wrapping his arms tight around her waist. He moved in with them a few weeks ago. Which was good, because if Ast had to deal with Sirius for one more day by herself, she probably would've gone mad.
She looked over at Remus, he was sound asleep. He looked so peaceful; younger in a sense. His scars were sort of glowing in the morning sun. He looked beautiful. Her eyes darted to his bedside table, where a stack of books awaited. Remus had a strange habit of using flowers and leaves as bookmarks. They kept on getting ruined though but he would just happily replace them like nothing happened.
His journal also sat on the table, the same one he had from fifth year. It looked fuller now. Bits of paper and even more flowers stuck out of the journal. He read his poems to Ast sometimes. He had a way with words that she could never accomplish even if she tried hard enough. He sketched too, mostly constellations. Ast once found him drawing a picture of the moon, it appeared in the bin the next day.
The tapping still continued so Ast reluctantly got out of bed and opened her window. James's owl flew into her room and landed on the windowsill. A letter was attached to its leg. She removed the letter and opened it:
To my dear troublemakers,
We've got something to tell you. Could you and the others come over in the afternoon.
Lily.
Ast reread the letter, curiosity sunk into the pit of her stomach. Was everything alright? Had something happened? She checked the clock on her bedside table, 11:23. She crossed back to her bed and violently shook Remus awake.
"Wha-?" He said in a sleepy voice.
"We're going to Lily's later," Ast said.
"Yeah yeah okay," he said, waving her off.
Ast decided to head downstairs for breakfast. Sirius wasn't there so she assumed that he was still asleep. She made herself some toast and a mug of coffee, she ate the food in silence. As she was clearing up her dishes, she heard a knock at her front door.
She hesitantly walked towards her front door and looked through the spy-hole. Her mother was standing outside and Iris was cradled in her arms. Ast debated on whether to answer or not. Eventually, she opened the door.
Tina greeted her with a warm smile but Ast didn't seem to return it. Iris giggled when she saw her big sister.
"Why are you here?" Ast asked, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms against her chest.
"I- I wanted to apologise." Tina said, staring at her daughter with sorrow.
"For what? For speaking the truth?"
Guilt flashed across Tina's face. "Can I talk to you? Please?"
Ast sighed and moved out of the way. "Fine, come in. But I'm only letting you in because of Iris."
Her mother quickly filed into the house and looked around. Ast ushered her to the living room and they both sat down, keeping distance between each other.
"I'm so...so...sorry, Asteria. What I did was wrong and I wasn't thinking straight. I can't believe I even thought of such things." Tina said.
"So it's taken you almost a year to finally realise?"
"I've been trying to owl you but you never responded. I was so distraught after Oscar died that I took my anger out on anything. So when you confessed, I wasn't myself, I felt like someone else was taking over my head."
Ast looked at her distastefully, "that still doesn't detract from you wishing I died."
Tears were now welling in Tina's eyes. Iris crawled out of her arms and was now walking over to Ast.
"I know," Tina sobbed. "What I did was horrible and I'll never forgive myself for it. I still can't believe that I thought those things about my daughter, my beautiful darling daughter. Words can't describe how sorry I am."
Ast digested her mother's words. She didn't know whether to believe her or not. The apology seemed genuine, but it was the fact that her mother had taken so long to apologise was what threw her off.
"Where's dad?" Ast asked.
"He's at work. Listen, Ast, we're not safe here. We're being followed by Death Eaters."
"I'm being followed too. We're all being followed."
"You-Know-Who is out to get us. I'm sorry for putting you in danger."
"It's not your fault... mum. Just keep Iris safe, will you?"
"I'm trying the best I can, but will you please forgive me for what I've done?"
Ast gave it some thought.
"I forgive you, but I think it's best if we stay away from each other for a little while."
Her mother quickly agreed and unexpectedly threw her arms around Ast, pulling her into a hug. Tina sobbed and apologised even more.
Iris crawled into Ast's lap and started pulling at her hair. Tina smiled at the two.
"It's a shame you haven't seen each other much," her mother said.
"It's for the best, I don't want anyone else in my family getting hurt because of me," Ast spat, squeezing the four-year-old's little fingers.
Tina pursed her lips but held back her remark. She sat forward in her seat, not taking her eyes off Ast.
"Listen," Tina began, "any day now and your father and I will get killed by him. If it does... happen, I want you to look after Iris and stay out of harm's way. If we do die, I want Iris to know everything about her past, I already made that mistake of not telling you."
Ast glared at her mother. "That's rich coming from the woman who wished I was never born. Why would you leave the last child you love left with the one you wished were dead?"
Tina's voice rose. "I've told you, it was a mistake!"
"It wasn't, we both know it wasn't." Ast spat. "I'm not going to look after Iris, because I love her more than anything and she will just be in danger."
"Well, what if we die?"
"You won't die! Dumbledore is going to protect you."
"And who will protect you."
Ast froze, she didn't know who would protect her. She vowed to protect her friends and Iris, she would risk her life for them. But who would do the same to her?
She had had enough.
"Get out," Ast said, feeling her temper rising to the surface.
Tina stared at her with a blank face.
"Get out," Ast repeated. "Before you get killed in front of my eyes."
Tina didn't need to be told twice, she grabbed Iris and disapparated on the spot. Ast fell onto the sofa and sighed. She had to do it, to protect them. If she kept her family away, they would be safe.
The sound of footsteps came from the stairs and Sirius appeared wearing nothing but boxers and socks. His hair was sticking out at all angles and he had dark circles underneath his eyes.
He smirked at her and said, "families, eh?"
"Families," she replied.
It took them an hour to get ready and head out. Sirius, Remus and Ast apparated to James and Lily's house and found their living room in a complete mess. Peter was already there, sipping tea. He looked pale, almost as if he was ill. Peter was always getting sick though, so she didn't linger too long on him.
"Lily?" Ast called out.
"Hello," James said, walking into their living room with a goofy grin on his face.
Lily followed suit.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked.
Lily gave them all a soft smile. "You might want to sit down for this."
They moved a stack of papers off of the sofa and sat down, patiently waiting for one of them to start talking.
"So," Lily began.
"So?" Sirius asked.
"Somethings happened,"
"Well, yeah, why else would we be here?" Remus asked sarcastically.
"Between me and James."
"You broke up!" Sirius exclaimed.
"No!"
"Then tell me, woman!"
She took a deep breath and gave James a side glance, "I'm... I'm pregnant."
Ast clapped a hand over her mouth. "No way!"
She grinned and nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah, way,"
"We're having a baby!" Sirius shouted, jumping up and down and hugging Peter tightly.
"Wait," Sirius said, suddenly stopping. "So that means that you two had... James!"
Sirius ran over to tackle James. They got into a play-wrestling match. Ast congratulated Lily. It turned out, that she got pregnant the night of Sirius's Halloween party that Ast still couldn't believe she let him have. That may have explained why she and James left early. Alice was also pregnant, which was also great news. Ast couldn't wait to meet their kids.
Ast had always loved children. With their adorable little faces and pudgy stomachs, what was not to love about them?
They spent a few hours discussing baby names and tried to guess whether they were having a boy or a girl. Lily claimed that she wanted a girl, while James wanted a boy. Ast was secretly rooting for a girl too.
After that, they all headed to headquarters and started working. People came and went, some stayed for an hour, some only stayed for a few minutes.
Dumbledore kept on insisting that Ast should go back to Bulgaria and try to recruit some of her Durmstrang friends. She knew that it would be a lost cause, she knew where their loyalties stood. Perhaps Oscar's friends would have a different approach? Ast's parents were currently out on a mission for the Order. Jade had joined the Order too, for Oscar's sake.
Ast looked up from her piece of parchment that contained all the names of people who they knew were Death Eaters. Lines were coming out from the names, leading to facts and clues. Peter was watching Ast closely.
"You alright, Pete?" She asked.
Peter seemed to snap out of his daydream and blinked a few times.
"Yeah," he answered. "I'm fine, Vix."
A thump came from another room and Moody and Dumbledore appeared at the doorway. They must've apparated in. Even though the Order was Dumbledore's brainchild, he was rarely there. So something must've been off.
Their eyes scoured the room, finally landing on Ast.
"Nott," Moody said, his voice hoarse.
"Yeah?" She asked, suddenly full of worry.
"You should come here," he said. "Perhaps Lupin should come too."
Ast exchanged a glance with the others and then Remus and her followed Moody out of the room. He led them far away from the room. They stopped in a hallway, his magical eye surveyed them for a second.
"I'm sorry Nott," he began, "but your parents... they're missing."
The words hit her like a bullet and she stumbled backwards. Remus quickly caught her and held a firm grip on her arm.
"What?" She croaked.
"The last thing we know is that they were cornered by Death Eaters. I'm sorry kid." He said, patting her on the shoulder before leaving the hallway.
She collapsed into Remus's arms. He held her tightly, rubbing her back as she cried into his shoulder.
"Everything is going to be okay," he reassured. "They're only missing, they might come back soon."
"It's a lost cause, Remus," she sobbed.
"No," he said, holding her shoulders and looking into her eyes. "We'll find them, love, I promise."
They waited and waited. Hours went by and still no sign of Ast's parents. Remus stayed with her the entire night, holding her hand or cradling Ast in his arms. She felt bad for him, he had things to do that evening but he cancelled them just to stay with her.
"You're more important." He said whenever she brought it up.
At around 1:30 A.M, Peter entered the room, his face was gaunt. His eyes met hers and his face softened up. Her heart sank, she knew what was coming.
"Ast..." He choked out, "I'm sorry... Your parents, they were found dead at a Death Eater's hideout."
Ast was already half-standing up. She managed to give Peter a small 'thank you' smile before bolting out of the door. She ran out into the street and broke down. Remus found her a few seconds later. He wrapped an arm around
Ast and let her cry into his shoulder. She cried for what seemed like hours. Finally, when it seemed like she could cry no more, she sat up.
"This is all my fault," she whispered.
"No it's not," he said sternly.
"Yes, it is. Mum was here earlier; she wanted to rekindle everything, I pushed her away. Why do I keep doing this?"
"Hey, listen to me, you didn't know this would happen."
"But I could've prevented it! I lost Oscar because I didn't listen to him, now I've lost my parents because I didn't listen to them!"
"It's not your fault!"
"Why is it," she breathed, "that everyone I love, end up getting hurt? My parents... Oscar. Iris will probably have the same fate...wait... IRIS!"
She stood up, almost knocking Remus over. She ran inside, grabbing her wand and disapparated. She appeared in her parents' house. Her heart sank when she saw the living room. Iris's toys were scattered over the floor, empty tea mugs were resting on the coffee table and an open book was faced upside down on the sofa.
It made Ast feel guilty. She had argued with her mother, only for her to get killed. She wished she had forgiven her, maybe she could've prevented them from going. The time they could've had together... the year they lost.
She walked upstairs to Iris's room. Her heart was beating out of its chest. She slowly pushed the door open and looked into the room.
There she was, asleep in her bed. Ast breathed a sigh of relief. Iris stirred and woke up.
"Asteria?" She said, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Hello Iris," Ast said, crossing the room to sit on her bed.
"Where's mummy?"
"Umm... Mummy and daddy have gone for a while, so you'll be staying with me." Ast explained, trying her best to give her a warm smile.
"Like a sleepover?" She asked.
"Yeah, like a very long sleepover."
Her eyes lit up and she quickly shot out of bed. She rushed around her room, collecting things that she wanted to take with her. Once her arms were full of toys, she took them out of her arms and placed them in a suitcase Ast fashioned out of the air. Ast placed an undetectable extension charm on the case so she could fit bigger items in it.
There was no way she was going to send Iris to an orphanage, not in a million years. Ast was going to look after her until the day she died.
"Why don't you go downstairs and get all your toys from there," Ast urged.
Iris excitedly nodded and rushed downstairs. Ast cleared her room up; packing her bed, wardrobe and massive stuffed dragons into the suitcase. Iris came back into the room with even more toys. She dropped them onto the floor when she saw what Ast had done with her room.
"What are you doing, Asteria?" She asked.
"Mummy wanted you to bring all your things,"
"Okay," Iris said, throwing her things into the case.
Once everything was packed, Ast brought Iris downstairs to the living room. Ast's breath caught in her throat when she saw it again, but she didn't let it show. She didn't want Iris asking questions.
Ast explained that they were going to use Floo powder to get back, and that she had to hold tight onto Ast.
"Are we going to see Moony and Lily?" Iris inquired, rubbing her eyes again.
"Yeah we are, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail too."
"Yay!"
Iris loved Ast's friends, she had grown particularly fond of Lily and Remus. She always wanted to see them whenever Ast saw her. Ast guessed that now she'd be seeing them a lot more.
Ast grabbed a handful of Floo powder and declared where she wanted to go. She threw the powder into the fireplace and the flames turned green. She stepped into the fire and they were instantly teleported to her house.
Remus and Sirius were already there, waiting for Ast to get back. They immediately got up and helped with Iris and her things. Ast showed Iris to her room, which was opposite hers and Remus's. Ast casted a quick charm and her things burst out of the suitcase and found their place in her room. Iris watched her room fill up in awe.
"I want you to go to sleep, okay?" Ast said, once Iris was into bed.
"I'm four years old, I know what I'm doing." Iris said proudly.
"Well yes, but even big girls need their sleep. It's 4:30 in the morning! Merlin, I must be in bed!"
Ast tucked her in, kissed her goodnight and turned her lights off. Just as she was about to leave her room, Iris called out:
"Can Moony say goodnight to me too?"
Ast exchanged a glance with Remus and shrugged. He walked over to Iris's bed and said goodnight. He kissed her forehead and left the room with Ast. As soon as she shut her bedroom door, Ast broke down again.
A/N: well that was nice. Here, have a pic of the fantastic beasts cast to lighten your mood. <3