𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑂𝑓 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒- 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒
𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠, 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙤𝙯𝙞𝙚𝙧
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"𝗢𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁"
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ASTRIA REGULUS BLACK mourned the days she forced herself to detest The Boy Who Lived. Sure it was a different cacophony of emotions in her head, but it lacked what got her where she was now. That being, that now somewhere dug deep into her beating heart was this care, this care about what happened to him. And with care came worry, and knotting up stomachs. And with that brought sleepless nights and teary eyes.
But then to be fair, she wouldn't change anything that had happened, no matter how melodramatic she wanted to be about the whole thing.
Astria was sitting with Morpheus in the courtyard, shoulder to shoulder, snow mixed with rain hitting the ground outside the small cover. Her heart was still racing in her chest, and for some reason, she couldn't seem to catch her breath.
But she enjoyed watching the snow, hiding away from the students who funneled back into the halls. They had taken Harry to the Infirmary, a group of his friends following closely behind. Astria didn't want to talk to anyone but maybe Harry, but she wouldn't admit that.
Morpheus was a grounding breath next to her, his dark wavy hair messy from the rain, and he stayed silent. He didn't ask if she was okay, why she ran, or if she needed anything. Astria was thankful for that because she wouldn't answer. The boy understood the feeling of exhaustion that comes with being the center of attention of a crowd, while pain crawled at you. It ripped all the sleep from Astrias bones, she was so tired and her back still ached.
Time passed begrudgingly, and Morpheus stayed by her side, she moved her head towards the blue shoulder, giving him a look that asked if it was okay. And when the Tonks boy nodded she let her head fall, eyes slipping closed.
The day faded away, everything becoming fuzzy. Morpheus rested his head on top of hers, his breaths evening out as sleep chased him as well. It couldn't be a smart idea to fall asleep while the temperature slowly dropped but Astria couldn't seem to form any thoughts. Her head was so heavy and her eyes closed. She didn't want to ever leave, the heat from Morpheus next to her and the castle behind them was enough. The girl felt warm all over, her mind so jumbled
And a while later when she was finally falling into a comfortable dream state, a small voice spoke up, "Astria, we've been looking everywhere for you," it was a familiar accent, and she was so out of it she couldn't place the voice. It took a second for her eyes to force open and to sit up straight.
The first thing she noticed was that she was horribly tired, her back hurt, maybe a little less, but all the same. The snow had piled up a little more, and the tips of her fingers and face were cold. The person that had talked was now kneeling in front of her was no one else but Sage Zion. The girl's features were soft, her hair in thick dreads tied up into a ponytail on her head, two strands left to frame her face. She was wearing tan trousers, a black crop top, and a big tan jacket over. Astria was so out of it she almost missed the worry shadowing Sage's face.
She looked up at Morpheus to see him gaze at the both of them, eyes drugged with sleep, "Huh?" Astria tilted her head to the side, confused about what Sage had said to her.
Sage smiled fondly, bringing a hand up to push lose hair behind the Lupin-Black girl's eyes, "Sweetie we've been looking for you, it's been a few hours," She explained, and Astria did her best to follow what she was saying, "Harry woke up not so long ago, he's asking for you,"
That didn't exactly wake Astria up, but she nodded, standing up and almost falling over in the process.
Sage laughed a little, wrapping an arm around the younger girl, "Thank you Morpheus, will you be alright?" Astria slurred a little, very much feeling like she just woke up.
Morpheus smiled, standing up as well, "No need to say thank you, and I'll be just fine. Go see Harry," Even in exhaustion his voice was formal, and Astria giggled a little at that, before nodding and letting Sage lead her away.
Once the heat of the old hallway hit her, she realized just how cold she was. It wasn't completely unwelcome, it kept her awake. She was sure if enough warmth engulfed her as of now she would fall asleep while standing.
Her Mary Janes echoed off the stone walls as they went, Sage's arm still wrapped around her, "Love, get some sleep after this, please?" The older girl urged, stopping in front of the medical room. And Astrias skin itched to push that door open and see his green eyes.
It took the Gryffindor a second to process what she said, "I will," she whispered back, the idea of sleep sounding better as the seconds went by.
Sage nodded, the air was soft around them and she gave the girl a quick hug, "Love you, honey," and Astria felt this undeniable surge of comfort in every bone of her body. The snow falling silently outside, the hallway empty, her head fuzzy. She felt safe.
She murmured back a 'Love you too,' and Sage smiled her warm smile before pushing the door open for the younger girl. The two bid a quiet goodbye as she walked in, the entrance shutting behind her.
All eyes whipped to the curly-headed girl still wrapped in her, now dirtied, brown overcoat. Hermoine was sitting next to Harry's bed, Ron, George, and Fred all huddled around in different places as well. The puffy-haired girl's face went a little uncomfortable when she saw her. Ron, Fred, and George seemed concerned, she must have looked as tired as she felt.
She didn't let herself stand awkwardly, walking towards the bed Harry was propped up in, eyes shut in a motionless sleep.
Ron got up from the bed he was sitting on when she got closer, shocking the group a bit. Well not Astria, she wasn't sure she had the emotional ability to be shocked as of the moment, "You alright Black?" he asked as he stepped in front of her studying her pink cheeks and tired eyes.
She gave a messy sort of nod, hair falling in her face, "Of course, just tired," He didn't look like he believed her, and Fred and George, who had just gotten out of their shock at what had just happened. Wore the same expression.
Hermoine on the other hand still looked remarkably uncomfortable.
Her voice was like a gentle alarm, Harry's dazed eyes cracking open, "Tria?" he slurred with sleep, looking around before he landed on her, smiling lazily, once he was sure it was her he relaxed into the bed, closing his eyes.
Everyone but Astria looked a bit stumped at this,
"Yeah okay," Fred said dumbfounded, grabbing George and Ron by the arm and giving Astria a loving look, "Let's let them be," he finished, glaring at Hermione when she didn't get up right away.
The brown-skinned girl huffed as Astria stood watching them, "But-"
George rolled his eyes, "Get up and let's go, she's harmless," he snapped, whispering something about how Hermoine was supposed to be smart.
Astria didn't think about it too much, her usual inner monologues felt like too much work as of the moment.
The Granger girl followed them out, sneaking a few glances back at them as Astria went to sit on the bed next to Harry.
They both sat silent until the door shut, and for a second after that. He was half asleep next to her, the two sitting shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg. Astria couldn't say much for that, for she was in the same predicament. Eyes drooping the longer they stayed quiet.
Her back still hurt, and that meant Harry's was much worse. So she sat up, sitting criss-cross apple sauce and facing her friend, "You're back," she motioned. Needing no further explanation, he sat up the best he could.
Astria smiled kindly when he openly stared at her, not saying anything as she brought a hand up to his back. Feeling the bandaged wounds through the oversized black hoodie he was wearing. At first, he scrunched his emerald eyes closed, his body tensing up in pain. And Astria was careful, soft, and feather-light with her hands, hating the way it hurt him. But then a beat passed and his face relaxed and slowly Astria felt his and her pain fade away. Harry's shaking frame relaxed and he looked beyond relieved, throwing an arm out to pull her into him.
They stayed like that for a moment, the Lupin-Black girl swinging her arms up and around his neck, one hand playing with the curls at the bottom of his head. She felt the tiredness from before playing with her, her heart slowing and throat opening up at knowing he was okay.
The boy fell back into the bed, pulling Astria with him, arms wrapped around her carefully. She didn't waste time falling into his warmth, her head against his chest. She shuffled a little, pulling back to take off her dirty coat and shoes. Leaving the girl in her brown and white dress.
She cuddled back into her friend, feeling sparks erupts all over her skin like they usually do. Which she was starting to get used to. He used one arm to hug her around the waist and another ended up in her hair like usual. Astria brought herself closer to him, resting her head near his heart and hugging his body.
The girl could feel a day's worth of aches and tension fading away, "I was worried about you," he whispered. While he unclipped her hair and let the curls fall naturally, running his hand through them.
Astria felt her brain slow as she started to fall asleep, "You were worried about me? Weren't you the one that felt fifty feet?" her words were a little jumbled and took extra effort, but if he noticed he didn't say so.
"Yeah I was, Ron said you disappeared after," he hummed, and Astria was finding it very hard to stay awake as he ran his hands through her hair.
She tried to stay awake by focusing on the snow falling outside the windows, "To disappear is to not return," Astria felt everything but the boy holding her start to slip away, "I'm here now aren't I,"
The Girl Who Lived could feel her friend smiling. However instead of going to say something like she thought he would, instead he used to arm around her waist to pull her closer until she was halfway laying on top of him. His body angled a little towards her. Astrias head was still on his chest, listening to the melody of his heartbeat. And she still had one arm wrapped around him, but the other went to softly grip the Lily necklace around his neck.
Astria was used to the burning by now, even found comfort in it. At first, it hurt, every time they touched it stung horribly. But over time it went from pain to making her feel a little more alive. Sometimes it felt like a reminder that even when she felt the most alone in all the turmoil, there was this boy who understood, who was placed in her life by some grand force. She wouldn't have admitted that not so long ago, but suddenly her and Harry felt like some tale, a story to be told of two friends whose lives were tangled into one.
She felt an inch away from sleep when he spoke up this time, "Thank you," and it hit Astria that she wasn't getting the feeling from earlier, the one that made her not want to talk to anyone.
There's no need to say thank you, Is what she wanted to say, "Of course, Harry," is what came out instead.
He didn't wait, most likely scared he would fall asleep if he did, "Don't go please?" He had a sort of boyish optimism in his words, and Astria wondered for a split second what kind of medicine they put him on.
At least he could say it was that if we got caught, the thought crept in, Maybe this is a bad idea.
Astria was too tired to think rationally. At least what she told herself.
"Okay," She promised, falling asleep once again in Harry Potter's arms.
She was starting to make a habit of it.
That's probably not a good thing.
☽☽————- ★ ————-☾☾
It was dark the next time her eyes opened, a warmth blanketed over her whole body. She took a second to remember where she was. With Harry in the medbay. His arms were still around her, and she still hugged him with one of hers. But her hands had moved from the necklace on his neck and instead was gripping the material of his hoodie, right over his heart. Harry's hand was no longer running through her hair, instead, it was holding her around the waist like the other one.
Astria didn't get what woke her up at first, blinking a little and forcing her eyes open. Next to them was a flickering candle and it reminded her of the last time she had woken up in the medbay and Harry had been there. But instead, he was across the room, and his presence haunted her then. Times change.
Even when part of her was still a little haunted.
She gave herself a moment to watch the light dance on The Boy Who Lived face, his eyes still closed in peaceful rest and his curls falling onto his face.
Then it finally hit her what had woken her up, the sound of someone's voice coming from the end of the bed. Not just somebody, but more than one hushed whisper.
She closed her eyes in a fake sleep, and she could feel Harry wake up too, pretending to sleep as well.
"Madam, what do you mean his injuries have dissipated?" One voice murmured, Mcgonagall. And Astria wondered when they had had time to check.
She wasn't surprised to hear the news, and from the steady beat of Harry's heartbeat, he wasn't either. They had figured out the healing thing not too long ago. And honestly, Astria was getting less and less surprised about these things.
"I mean what I said, they are gone," the nurse deadpanned, sounding confused but exhausted all at the same time.
A creak of the door and a few light footsteps and another person joined the group, and now she was wondering how many people were watching her sleep. "Well," Dad, she recognized right away, "Isn't that a good thing?" His tone was dismissive, but she could hear the underlying message.
the nurse stopped, and Astria knew Remus could tell they were awake, trying to push the conversation to its end, "Why of course, but it's strange and then there's Astria-"
"What about her?"
A shuffle, most likely people looking around at each other, "No need to get protective, she's saying Astria is supposed to be in her dorm as of the moment," Mcgonagall spoke again, and she didn't sound very stern. As if Astria staying wasn't out of the question, maybe even what she assumed would happen anyway, "But there is a conversation that needs to be had about his newfound healing,"
The werewolf most likely nodded before speaking, and Harry cuddled into Astria a little more, keeping the look of sleeping up, "Well then, be that as it may, we are not having it now," Remus held the conviction Minerva was lacking before, "Let the children sleep, they've been through enough," and Astria could clearly imagine the pointed look he gave them. Because a few mumbled words and many footsteps away and out of the medbay, Astria and Harry were alone again.
She didn't move from her spot, tangled up in Harry and his scent of sandalwood and dark cherry, "Our secret?" Astria murmured so quietly, Harry's heartbeat may have been louder.
But he heard her, like always, "Our secret," he confirmed, his voice deep and sleepy, erupting a warmth all over Astria.
She was half asleep when he spoke again, "I'm glad it's you," he said, tucking his face into her wild hair, humming contently. Like that was where he was supposed to be. Astria was almost scared of that thought.
The girl was fuzzy all over, "What do you mean?" she slurred a little, a little surprised she felt so comfortable sleeping in the dress she had on.
A few seconds passed, and Astria thought maybe he had drifted to sleep. His mind lolled away into a dream world, and she would never get to know what the boy was glad about. But then his voice whispered to her again, "That it's you I have secrets with," and like turning the lights off, she could practically feel him fall asleep the second the words left his mouth.
And Astrias first thought was to agree.
She was more scared of that thought.
☽☽————- ★ ————-☾☾
It had been this morning when Harry was let out of the medbay, miraculously healed up. No one knew why, not even the professors seemed to have an explanation. Well, not no one. Astria Black and Harry Potter knew, along with many other things only the two knew. It was a growing list of secrets these days, chaining them together in another way, not that there weren't plenty of other things chaining them to each other.
Rumors spread like the Black Plague in Hogwarts, but she will give credit where credit is due. Ever since the golden trio stopped helping along the process it seemed to move about 30 minutes slower. Which at least enough time to get away from the initial blow before everything went to hell.
However, that only counted when you knew the blow was coming.
"Merlin Tria, you keep pulling stunts like this and our friends are going to throw that 'It's nothing' in your face," Neville commented when he found her in the greenhouses Sunday afternoon, "Like really really hard," She doesn't look up when the door closed behind him, letting her hand continue to hover while she focuses on forcing the Maiden Hair Fern to grow.
"May I ask," Astria started, her tone innocent, "Why the dramatics Nev," Honestly she would be lying if she didn't already have her ideas, but she tried not to think about that after the foliage on the fern started to uncurl at the movement of her hand.
Neville didn't miss a beat, "Sleep well last night?" he joked, cutting off her focus by shoving a newspaper in front of her.
She looked up at him, "Oh that," the girl hummed, grabbing the tan paper and reading the headline.
''Harry Potter and Astria Black Seem To Be More Friendly Than We May Have Thought?" Under it was a low light, but a decent quality picture of Astria and Harry cuddled under the thin covers of the medbay.
She chose not to think about who had the idea of taking a picture of the two and sharing it with the media.
The Lupin-Black handed her best friend the paper, "They always put Harry's name first," She said unbothered, if she let those papers bother her, she'd be long gone by now.
Neville laughed, tossing the article in the nearest compost bin, "Undercover sexism?" he smiled, seemingly less bothered by the whole thing once he was she wasn't.
"No," Astria spoke, letting a hand brush against a nearby Pothos, watching a new green and yellow leaf grow at the touch, "Balent sexism," she corrected, feeling a warmth of appreciation break out in her chest when her best friend laughed a little, lose golden curls falling in his face.
A second passed where he went to grab some lavender and peppermint spray and started misting some of the plants, "You know I can't keep them off your back forever," Neville stated, and Astria didn't have to ask who he meant.
She didn't address the advice he was trying to give her, "Thank you for doing it so far," The Girl Who Lived nodded at her taller friend, watching as he sprayed the leaves and soil with the natural bug repellent.
They sat and talked for a few more minutes, mostly about trivial things, until the door to the greenhouse opened again and Luna walked through.
"Ace, Gin, and Lysandra are currently out for your head," she informed walking across the humid room and jumping onto the table next to them, sitting crisscrossed. Her long hair pooled around her waist as she did so, "In a loving way of course," Luna smiled, her movements light and ungraceful as always.
Neville coughed out an understandably that Astria ignored, "I assumed," Was the response she gave, moving a step over to start leaf shining a small Monstera plant, "And the others?"
Maybe it was the way Luna talked that gave her some extra calmness, because she didn't need to ask. The girl could guess each of her friend's responses, "Pansy and Blaise are pretending they already knew, and Morpheus definitely already knew-"
Wait, "Knew what?" she cut the Ravenclaw off, pausing what she was doing.
"That there's something going on between you two," She explained, and sure it was true, there was something. There were bruises and late-night secrets and things they could never share. But they were friends, and where they stood in their friendship didn't go farther than just that, a friendship.
"It's nothing more than something," Astria promised, looking back and forth between the white-haired girl and the golden-haired boy. Watching the way light danced differently on their hat.
"Well I know that, and she knows that but honestly, it doesn't look like that," Neville cut in, putting the spray bottle down.
Astria blinked, going back to her plant, "Nothing ever looks as it is," she said as she finished off shining the leaves, pulling the next Monstera in front of her to do the same.
Luna smiled her floaty smile, "I'm afraid you might be right," and her words had an obvious double meaning Astria chose to kindly ignore.
As the little bit of winter light shone down through the green-tinted glass, maybe she was right. Maybe nothing was as it is, maybe everything was more obvious than she thought it was. She lived between the lines on paper, creating her own message, understanding things in her own way. But maybe she's morphed it all into her vision. Created an idea of what everything looks like around her, that's nothing like how everyone else sees it. Or maybe everyone else is ignoring the truth, and staring at her through a fog of who they think she is, who they think they are.
Or maybe it was never that complicated.
But everything was complicated.
Before they could go on the door opened again, and there stood Draco with a letter in his hand and conflict on his face.
Draco was a good example of how a person looks at life, they had talked about it a few times before. He told her without her when they were younger, without the wake-up call that was Astria Black, he might have turned out a lot different. He even started to turn out a lot differently, when she had run away and he started to blend back into his family, taking the path they wanted for him. But then she was at school, and he remembered how he wanted to look at the world. And he didn't do it at first, he wanted to take the easy way, the way his father wanted for him. But the girl had taught him how the best things, the right things, weren't easy. He had watched her come together and fall apart. And maybe if she could do it, he could too. And honestly, it took him till third year to really break that into his head, but he wanted the things that weren't easy. Because easy was a poison people drank often, and it slowly killed you.
He didn't move away from the door when it shut behind him, his white hair shining under the natural light, "My father sent me a letter this morning," his voice was hollow, like all his energy was already gone for the day, "He found out about accident during Care Of Magical Creatures during that first week of school,"
The thing Astria found odd right away, is Draco was a blunt person, he never dragged on his interest or stories longer than he had to. He cut right to the point, no matter the subject. But now he seemed to be dancing around it.
Astria set down everything in her hands, giving her friend her full attention as she took a few steps toward him. He stood a little tense, in his grey, plaid, trousers, black tucked-in turtleneck, and black overcoat. The usual ring on a chain around his neck.
Astria herself was wearing a dark plaid skirt, tights, a black turtleneck, with a big white button-up sweater over, that had flowers accenting the sleeves. And of course a pair of Mary Janes.
Neville and Luna were watching the two with full attention, "Draco what did he say?" Astria asked once she stood about two arm lengths away from him.
The boy didn't move for a second, looking as if he had no plan on answering that question, but his gaze broke and his eyes jumped between everyone in the room.
"Draco are you okay?" Luna asked from the back of the room, her tone kind.
"I'm fine," then his voice got a little more emotional than Astria was used to for him, "Please don't be mad,"
"I won't be," The Lupin-Black girl answered right away, and she hoped it would be true. She wasn't a very angry person, and it was hardly the first thing she felt most of the time.
"He's filing an order to to the court of the Ministry," his normal tone was back now, stern and blunt like knowing she wasn't going to be mad brought him back to himself, "To have the Hippogriff put down, and my Father he gets what he wants," and Astria knew that just as Draco did.
Luna gasped in the back of the room, and Neville muttered a swear under his breath. But then the air went still, maybe it was the way the leaves started to shuffle like the wind was blowing through them. Or maybe it was that little bit of dread that settled in Astria's heart. Or maybe it was the way- and only Draco saw this- but Merlin he would swear it happened- the way her eyes danced with a sparkle of green. Like a storm of silver and emerald. Maybe it was all of that made the room go silent. That made the heartbeats loud and everyone froze.
Because how the hell do you fight against a powerful white man? How could they save the bird's life? It didn't matter really, the how and the where, Astria would not let the creature suffer at the hands of that man the way she knew too well.
She wasn't going to let Lucius Malfoy win.
Not again.
☽☽————- ★ ————-☾☾
Outfit at the start-
Outfit at the end-
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It's gonna be fun writing Sages in this time of her book and seeing her pov.
Also alternative title for this chapter "How much can the author say 'a little' in one chapter and still post" (UPDATE APPARENTLY A LOT SOMEONE TAKE MY COMPUTER AWAY FROM ME) (update to the update now it's "how many times can the author say 'a little' and 'a few' in one chapter and still post")
I love when you guys comment, it makes me so happy.
definitely a lot of old bad feelings brought up for Astria at the end there.
Anyway as always it's roughly updated so tell me if you find an mistakes and thank you so much for reading (i'm decided to not even comment on how long it took me to update)
LOVEEEE UUU ALLL!!! 💖💖💖