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christmas half-term had come quicker than astra had anticipated. the holidays would last for two weeks, the students of hogwarts returning for new years. astra, lily, harley and regulus had received invitations from slughorn just before the break to go to his new year's party when they returned. none of them felt much joy in the thought of going, but they would none the less.
harley, sophia, phoenix and astra all sat in their usual compartment, phoenix and harley laughing loudly between themselves while sophia read silently, grinning to herself every so often. astra was watching the trees and lakes pass by her vision from the windows, dreading the return to her 'home'. her nails picked at the windowsill of the compartment, her mind drowning in the dark thoughts that swirled around continuously.
a knock was heard at the door and astra snapped from her thoughts, looking up at the door which her three friends were also doing. the marauders stood there with big grins on their faces. smiling back, sophia tugged open the door and the four tumbled inside, peter basically falling over air as he landed beside sophia who laughed softly as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
sirius plopped himself lazily down opposite astra, remus sitting by his side almost immediately. james moved and sat beside astra who looked at him for a second, seeing his grin and trying to force a small smile back. splotch stretched on astra's thighs before crawling onto james' lap and curling up, deciding to use him as a bed for the train journey.
"i didn't think you were going home." remus said to phoenix in confusion.
"i wasn't but then i realised all of my friends were cruley abandoning me for christmas." phoenix scoffed dramatically and astra snorted.
"figured out our plan, did you?" she joked and the boy gaped at her before tutting under his breath.
"bitch." phoenix mumbled and astra smiled at him which was returned gladly. "where're you lot staying this year, then?"
"james'." sirius answered, leaning his head on remus' shoulder with a tired yawn. "mia makes the best brownies."
"but by the time she's plated them up, you've ate them." remus muttered.
sirius scoffed, "i don't. she just needs to make bigger portions."
"mia makes enough to feed a village, you're just a human hoover." remus remarked.
"what's a hoover?" sirius asked curiously, his twin and james also interested.
"it cleans the floor. sucks up the dirt and shit." remus replied with a shrug that made sirius' head bounce on his shoulder.
"muggles are clever." astra hummed.
"i wouldn't go that far." remus muttered.
the compartment slowly filled with more chatter between different pair and trios of people. remus and sirius spent a lot of time only conversing with one another but no one dared to interrupt them, seeing how much they liked each other even if they hadn't realised yet. sophia had swapped seats with harley and was chatting away with phoenix excitedly over her christmas plans. harley was speaking with peter, helping him with some questions he had on different subjects.
the further they got to platform 9 3/4, the quieter astra got which meant james had to fill more silences. he didn't mind that, he could talk for england, but he was gradually becoming concerned with her lack of speech and half-minded responses. he knew why, of course. sirius had explained their home situation when he moved in with the potters.
"you don't need to go back there, y'know?" james said lowly, interrupting his own speech on quidditch.
"where?" astra asked, in the same quiet, hushed tone.
"to your mother and father's." james replied. "come to mine for christmas! everyone can come, it'll be fun! sirius'd like it."
astra looked at him with an odd sense of sadness, "i can't, potter."
"you can! we can apparate out of the station before your parents find you." james smiled.
"i appreciate the thought, but i have to go back for regulus. believe me, if he wasn't there, i'd accept your offer." astra nodded.
james thought for a second, "then invite him, too. i'm sure people can just avoid the awkward staring contests between regulus and sirius."
"he wouldn't come. he's up the front with a load of pureblood shits, anyway. they'd stop you from getting near him." astra said.
"then we'll perform a kidnap, but a friendly kidnap." james tried. astra shook her head. "you can't go back there. i know what they're like, sirius told me. run away."
"i can't." astra repeated.
"why?" james asked and she glanced away from his eyes for the first time in over an hour. discreetly, the gryffindor placed his hand over hers, causing astra to turn back to him. "tell me, please."
"i just need to look after regulus." astra shrugged.
"i thought he was already thinking of joining the death eaters." james mumbled.
"why did you think that?" astra asked.
"who he hangs around with." james answered. "and he's hanging around you less."
"i'm going to change his mind." astra stated definitively but james looked unconvinced. "i just need to try, at least."
"but if he goes through with it at any point, come to me and sirius." james said.
astra gave him another rare smile which made a light flush rise to his cheeks, "i'll try."
he nodded silently, worried that she wouldn't take up on the offer, or worse, that she wouldn't physically be able to take the offer. james looked away from her and started a conversation with remus who now had a fast asleep sirius laying with his head on his lap. astra looked out of the window, picking at a string on her jeans, remembering she'd have to change into some sort of appalling dress to please her parents before they stopped at the station.
as the train pulled up to a stop after some time, astra was walking back into their compartment in an awful black dress that had a corset which was too tight for her body. harley gave a joking wolf-whistle as astra laughed sarcastically, reaching to grab splotch's comfy cage which the cat happily got into.
phoenix shuddered dramatically, "oh, you look like you're ready to perform an eclipse!"
"yes, thank you." astra rolled her eyes.
"at least your tits look good." sophia said bluntly, surprising the gryffindors as she hadn't said much for the train journey, other than replying to a few things phoenix and peter had said.
astra smiled at her friend as everyone in the compartment stood up to leave. they all filtered out of the compartment but astra was tugged back by sirius who pulled her into a tight hug, which wasn't helping with her corset situation. he sighed into her shoulder shakily as she wrapped her arms around him too.
"if you can, run away, please." sirius whispered.
"where to?" astra mumbled back.
"i took my piece of the mirror, if you're planning on getting out, use it and i'll tell you where to go." sirius explained, squeezing her again. "don't be stupid and get yourself hurt."
astra scoffed, "hypocrite."
smiling sadly, sirius pulled out of the hug and looked at her, eyes slightly glazed at the thought of her being badly injured at their house, "you really smell."
"it's because i hugged you so it transferred to me, dickhead." astra laughed, the twins deflecting their sadness with childish and immature humour.
"don't trip on the curtains you're wearing." sirius finished and strode from the room, astra forcing the grin off of her face to greet her parents.
they all left the train after goodbyes, astra's friends trying not to show their fear for her as she left them, finding her parents glaring at a muggleborn witch in the crowd of families. regulus met with her on the small walk to them, glancing at her worriedly but she had only made her face emotionless, looking alarmingly similar to her mother's natural expression.
"regulus." walburga greeted in a bored tone before she scowled at her daughter, "astra... i've heard a lot about your time at hogwarts this year."
astra raised an eyebrow, "what have you heard, mother?"
"we've heard all about the company you've kept." orion said and gripped her wrist tightly as he prepared to apparate them out of the station. his nails dug into her skin but she didn't wince at the pain. "what a disappointment you've become."
across the heads of a few first years, astra caught salem malfoy smirking evilly at her.
{1444}
i wanna put a quick warning that while astra is at the black house, physical and mental abuse will be a running theme so please do not read if they make you uncomfortable.
each chapter will have a warning where they're necessary but i wanted to put an extra one.