♢
Asteria didn't think it to be possible, but classes only got harder after everyone returned from their holiday break. Every professor was keen on overloading their students for homework, as if obtaining a certain kind of thrill with every essay they assigned. Asteria spent every moment that she wasn't either in class or in the Great Hall studying, determined to get the best grades she possibly could. It was for that reason the blonde girl rarely saw her friends, as she buried herself in her library and her dorm, overloading on loose parchment and textbooks. Lily joined her, sometimes even Remus, but more often than not Asteria found herself alone.
That is until one crisp morning, when Asteria found herself all bundled up sitting by a lake and working on her most recent essay. Someone cleared their throat behind her, and the blonde looked behind her to see who dared bother her. Her face broke out into a smile when she saw Magnolia standing sheepishly behind her. The two hadn't seen each other in a hot minute, especially after Asteria had pulled the prank on her brother.
"Is that who I think it is?" Asteria started dramatically, closing the book in her lap. "No, it can't be. Magnolia Avery?"
"Shut up," Magnolia lightly slapped Asteria's shoulder, before taking a seat on the grass beside her. "I heard about the prank you pulled on my brother. Bulstrode and I lost our minds when they came back drenched in snow."
Asteria laughed, shaking her head at the prank that was now a few weeks ago. She could still recall the faint look of confusion and then fright as he realized the snowballs wouldn't slow their attack. "You should've seen the look of utter embarrassment on Max's and Mulciber's faces when they walked in. Merlin, I'd pay a hundred galleons to have that framed," Magnolia said gleefully.
"It was my pleasure," Asteria said. "Where have you been these past few weeks? I feel like I haven't seen you in years."
Magnolia's face fell for a second, and she shrugged sorrowfully. "As much as I loved the prank, my brother didn't," she explained, "he threatened to snitch that I was friends with a bunch of 'half-bloods and blood-traitors.' So I've had to avoid you. I'm sorry."
Asteria frowned, before bringing her friend into a tight embrace. It was rare for the two of them to receive any type of hug, but Asteria could tell the Slytherin needed it. Her brother was quite the pain in the arse.
"Are you alright?" Asteria asked softly, not knowing what else to say. Magnolia nodded.
"Yeah, I managed to get away from him for the day. He's busy with Mulciber and Wilkes doing Merlin knows what. Convenient, though, 'cause today's Lily's birthday isn't it?"
Asteria shushed her immediately, looking around to make sure the redhead was nowhere to be seen. Her and Remus had had something planned for weeks, a little birthday party not unlike the one they had thrown for Asteria. However, she couldn't find the boy anywhere all day, but had figured he was back in the tower for the time being. "Yeah, Marls and I planned to throw a little party in our common room, so that Remus could join in as well. And now, you're coming! Do you have a present for her? You know how much Lily loves presents."
Magnolia nodded, withdrawing a little box from one of the many pockets of her robes. "I got her a little necklace," she blushed, "I didn't know what else to get her, but I figured jewelry was a safe way to go, right?"
It was a black velvet box, wrapped with a little red bow. She untied it gingerly, opening the box to expose a beautiful necklace that caused even Asteria, who was used to expensive gifts, to gasp. "Damn Mags, and all I got from you was a fancy chess set."
Magnolia laughed, putting the box back in her robes. "I'll get you something even better next year," she rolled her eyes, before biting her lip. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"Of course she will!" Asteria nodded excitedly. "I can't wait to see her face when she opens it."
The two girls spent the next few hours just talking, enjoying the fact they could simply exist unbothered for once. Magnolia dragged on her brother for ages; apparently, Avery and Mulciber had a habit of ganging up on smaller first year Hufflepuffs and hexing them, for no other reason than they could. Asteria narrowed her eyes upon hearing that - there had been a moment where she'd felt bad for the snowball prank, but realized that she had been far too nice. Avery and his posse were nothing more than bullies, and they deserved everything coming to them. The blonde girl had developed an uncanny hatred for the two Slytherins, a stronger feeling than anything she'd ever experienced before. Not only had they stolen Magnolia from her and had put her through pain, but they were preying on those who were much weaker than them.
Then and there, Asteria decided she would spend the rest of her Hogwarts year torturing them like they tortured others. She was not the bigger person; she was karma personified.
Asteria suddenly jumped, eyes widening as she looked at Magnolia. "Mags, what time is it?"
"Around 5 o'clock, why?"
"Shite! I was supposed to distract Lily, stop her from entering the common room while Marlene and Dorcas decorated it. I'm sure she's in the library - come on, we have to go!" Asteria said all this as she rapidly packed up her things, Magnolia helping. Barely having enough time to throw her hat on, the two girls bolted into the castle, quickly making their way up to the library. Fortunately, no professor caught sight of them running a marathon in the corridors, otherwise they would've been assigned detention for sure.
Out of breath, they reached the library - thankfully, they saw a redhead sitting behind a stack of books. Catching their breath, the two walked in, taking their seats across from her. Lily didn't notice them for a bit, until Asteria cleared her throat.
"MAGS!" Lily all but yelled, lunging across the table and hugging whatever she could reach of the Slytherin. Pince shot them a glare, to which Lily responded with a sheepish look.
"Happy birthday!" Magnolia and Asteria said in unison, grinning.
"Have you spent your whole day here, studying?" Asteria began, eyes wide as if she had not done the same thing on her birthday.
"Exams are in four months, I have to be ready!" Lily defended herself, but Asteria tutted and grabbed Lily's essay from her.
"Nuh-uh, darling," Magnolia added, grinning. "You only turn 12 once, but you have plenty more exams to study for."
"But-"
"No buts," Asteria grinned, taking Lily's bag and hoisting it on her free shoulder. "Now follow me. Magnolia, make sure she does."
The three girls then exited the library, one of them looking a lot more sullen than the others. Asteria couldn't help but worry about Remus; he was supposed to be the one helping her distract Lily, not Magnolia. No matter, though. Maybe he had just forgotten, or maybe he'd been dragged into something with the boys. All thoughts of Remus left her head, though, as they approached the common room. Asteria whispered the password, and the Fat Lady swung upon-
"SURPRISE!"
Lily jumped almost five feet in the air, her eyes widening to the size of saucers as she looked at the way the common room had been transformed. Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary were sitting holding a giant sign that said "happy birthday, Lily!" and were surrounded with gifts. The older Gryffindors had chuckled upon seeing the first years' antics, and despite the noise they made, never told them to quiet down. There was something about seeing a bunch of eleven year olds celebrate their friend's birthday that was so much more important than exams or their own lives.
"How did you-" Lily's hands flew up to her mouth, her eyes watering. "This is amazing! Thank you so much."
The five girls stood up and tackled Lily into a hug, all of them falling onto the couch in a mix of laughs and shrieks and giggles. Eventually, Lily sat up, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. "You guys really didn't have to."
"Sure, but we wanted to," Dorcas stated, ruffling Lily's hair. Magnolia nodded, looking at Lily excitedly.
"Okay, presents!" Asteria screamed, jumping up and grabbing a gift from the pile. "Come on, open it, open it!"
One by one Lily tore open the gifts, marvelling and laughing with joy as she piled them beside her. Each girl had gotten her at least three gifts, especially Asteria, who was abusing the plethora of money she had at her disposal. There was quite literally a stack of presents beside Lily when she was done, and only then did Magnolia walk up to her with the box in her hand. It was the only gift Magnolia had gotten for the redhead, but a rather expensive one.
She gingerly offered it to Lily, who smiled kindly and untied the bow gently. Upon seeing the necklace, she gasped in delight. The necklace looked like it could buy a whole mansion; a beautiful silver chain, with a silver casing around a red jewel: a garnet, January's birthstone. Lily gently placed it around her neck, asking Magnolia to hook it for her. She held the jewel in her hand, amazed, as she looked down on it.
"Mags, I don't know how to thank you," Lily breathed, still in shock as she looked at the necklace. The girls all marveled at it, before casting wide-eyed looks at Magnolia, who only blushed.
"It was nothing," Magnolia waved her off, "Everyone else got you at least three presents, I felt bad only getting you one. Had to make it count, right?"
Lily only nodded, not knowing what else to say. She had never received a present such as this; it was perhaps the most expensive thing she or her entire family had ever owned. Clearly, it paid off to befriend rich purebloods.
Suddenly, a ruckus was heard from the side of the boys' dormitory - and three boys descended down the staircase, each one donning the same bright smile.
"Happy birthday, Evans," James said, walking right up to her with a box in his hand. "I got you a present!"
Lily rolled her eyes, while Magnolia looked off put as James practically pushed her out of the way. Her mood soured even more when Lily opened the box to reveal a simple charm bracelet, much less expensive than the necklace Magnolia had gotten for her but beautiful nonetheless. Asteria noticed the distraught expression on Magnolia's face and squeezed her hand comfortingly, but there was no need for that as Lily grumbled under her breath and gave the box right back to James.
"Potter, I can't accept this," she stated, pursing her lips, "I just-"
"Oh come on," James gave the box back to her. "Pretty please?"
"No!" Lily crossed her arms, "you were harassing Severus just yesterday, and now you expect me to accept a gift from you? Absolutely not!"
James's face fell, and he looked down at the floor. Sighing dramatically, he placed the box on a nearby couch and went right back up to his dormitory, after a sad wave in greeting to Asteria. The girl then frowned upon realizing Remus wasn't with them, running up to James and posing the question.
"Have you seen Remmy?"
"We thought he was with you," Sirius answered, trailing behind Asteria. She shook her head, to which the boys developed expressions of worry.
"We'll look for him, Asteria, don't worry," James said, and Asteria smiled gratefully. "Go enjoy Lily's party. Can you make sure she doesn't lose my gift?"
"No promises, but I'll try," Asteria shook her head. She hesitated for a moment, before asking sheepishly, "do you want to, erm, come join us?"
All three boys faltered, staring at Asteria with matching expressions of surprise. It was Sirius who spoke up, nodding. They followed Asteria back down to the common room, where celebrations continued to be in full swing. The girls were chasing each other around a couch, playing some sort of game of tag. Asteria laughed and joined in, running away from Marlene, who was the assigned 'tagger.' The boys stood on the sidelines for a moment, just staring at them, before Marlene looked at them with a tilt of her head.
"Do you wanna play hide and seek?" she asked the assembled group, which had grown exponentially in the past ten minutes. Everyone nodded, and so, the game began.
As the night went on, and the stars gradually appeared in the sky, the giggles and laughs of nine children continued to echo throughout the Gryffindor common room. Every now and then, a seventh year would tell them to quiet down - and they would, for approximately ten minutes. Immediately after, their screams of joy would recommence, and the seventh years would groan in disappointment. This cycle continued for the remainder of the night, until the older students eventually gave up and retreated to their dormitories. The eleven year olds whooped, taking this as a victory, and then sprawled out on the couches. Remus was still missing, but one of the older students claimed that he had gone home for the night to visit his mother; she was ill, apparently, a fact he hadn't mentioned to any of his friends. Asteria resolved to ask him about it tomorrow, or whenever he came back.
At some point, Marlene and Dorcas had returned to the dormitory; Mary had gone up soon after, while Peter had returned to the boys' dormitory. One by one, they all trickled away, until only Asteria, Magnolia, and Sirius had remained. Lily had cursed at James some more before she returned to her dorm, mostly because he kept picking on Severus and because of the bracelet - the latter had smiled and gone upstairs, making sure he slipped his present into Lily's pocket.
Magnolia had to wait out her brother, make sure that by the time she returned to the dungeons he was asleep. Part of her was tempted to sleep in the Gryffindor tower, but the logical side knew that it would be incredibly suspicious if she didn't return that night. Her dormmates, especially that stupid Parkinson, would snitch on her to her brother. Sirius was simply not tired, and Asteria wanted to keep Magnolia company.
The three of them shared a history, which contributed to how well they got along; they had all briefly heard of each other due to their pureblood upbringings but never formally met. Hogwarts had brought them all together by chance, and strangely enough, they had simply clicked. Asteria still vividly remembered her conversation with Sirius, and had softened a lot in areas where he was concerned - part of her, a part that was rapidly growing, thought he was quite fun.
"Why was James so adamant on giving Lily his gift?" Asteria suddenly asked, giggling a bit as she thought back on our conversation. Sirius smirked, looking around to make sure no one could overhear.
"We think he fancies her," he stage-whispered, and both Magnolia's and Asteria's eyes widened.
"He what?" Asteria repeated, a brief look of disgust crossing her face.
"He won't stop talking about her! It started the moment he saw her, but it's only gotten worse over the past month," Sirius rolled his eyes, "It's getting very annoying. He won't shut up."
Asteria laughed, but Magnolia seemed much too preoccupied to truly pay attention to what Sirius was saying. Eventually, pursing her lips, she stood up and made her way to the Portrait Hole.
"Alright, I'll be going," she stated, and Asteria stood up to hug her Slytherin friend.
"Do you want me to walk with you?" Asteria asked, but Magnolia waved her off. The blonde girl nodded, squeezing her friend tight. "Come find me more often, please?"
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try," she said sadly, looking down with a sigh. "Max is on my case like a hawk. I'll see if Bulstrode can distract him again, though, like she did today. Yeah?"
"Alright," Asteria said, and then the Slytherin disappeared.
Which left her and Sirius alone, again.
Asteria paused, debating some internal dilemma - ultimately, she walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs. Sirius looked at her in surprise, as though he'd been expecting her to go back up to the dormitories.
"Hi," Asteria said softly, twiddling her thumbs. For once, the girl was at a loss for words.
"Hey," he replied softly. Sirius inhaled sharply, picking his next words carefully. "I'm sorry."
The blonde girl looked up, tilting her head. "What?"
"I'm sorry," Sirius repeated. Asteria bit back a smile, before repeating her question.
"What?"
"Bloody hell, I know you heard me," Sirius snapped, narrowing his eyes. Asteria laughed, leaning back on the couch. He took that as a sign to continue. "I'm sorry for being a prat, and I'm sorry for spraying you with water that first day."
Asteria listened carefully, raising her eyebrow as he continued his mini-speech. She had not been expecting him to strike a conversation with her, much less apologize. Nevertheless, she pondered his apology. The past few months had been a rollercoaster, and she could never make up her mind on whether she liked the boys or not. Remus was now one of her closest friends, she had bonded with James over Quidditch, Peter had never bothered her... but that left Sirius. The night at the gala had allowed Asteria to see him in a different light, a night that neither of them had talked about since. But they had a lot more in common than Asteria had initially thought, as both of them had to deal with pureblood maniac parents and being sorted into the wrong house.
And perhaps that was what influenced her next action.
"It's okay," she smiled, before hesitating then extending her hand to him. "Friends?"
"Friends," Sirius beamed, shaking the girl's hand.
And thus began the friendship of a lifetime.
✧･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
a/n: idk if anyone notices but yes i changed her name i like this one better >:)