Asteria sat with her legs crossed on the bench, a book open in her lap but her eyes were not focused on its pages but instead the rolling hills that shot past the window beside her. Gently, the snow fell down onto the window momentarily before being wiped away by the vicious winter winds. The Hogwarts Express chuffed along rhythmically, shaking the floor slightly and humming beneath the boards.
"Ria?" The compartment door slid open slowly and Lily Evans stepped inside.
"Lil?" Asteria looked over.
"What're you doing?" Lily sat down opposite Asteria and eyes her friend with concern and worry. Lily would have been lying is she didn't admit she spent far too long worrying about Asteria - it couldn't have been healthy.
"Nothing... I thought you were doing prefecting stuff." Asteria shrugged nonchalantly.
"I was, that's where I've been the past couple of hours." Lily started, "And you're lying."
Asteria widened her eyes at Lily, "I'm lying?" She asked.
"Yes. Now, what's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." She shrugged again.
"You're scared about going home to your parents." Lily stated. She was smart, too smart for her own good and she'd do everything within her power to help any and all of her friends if they needed it - whether they asked or not.
"I'm fine." Asteria insisted, although her slightly shaking knees said otherwise.
"You don't have to lie to me. Just, talk about it because it might make you feel better. If you really need, I can ask if you could stay over at mine for a bit." Lily offered, desperate to help.
Asteria closed her book and opened her mouth to speak before the door slid open once again.
And in walked Severus Snape.
"Sev! I looked all over for you, where did you go?" Lily asked, standing up to greet her friend.
"Not hanging out with Malfoy again were you? Or maybe Avery or Rosier?" Asteria eyed his suspiciously.
"You don't hang out with them do you?" Lily looked between the two.
"No! No I don't." Snape became flustered as he shot Asteria a cold glare.
"I was just talking to Asteria about going home for Christmas and she might come over for a bit, right? That'll be fun." Lily nodded as if repeating it over and over would make it true.
"Why?" Snape frowned slightly as he sat next to Lily.
"Well you don't want to be around your family, do you?" Lily looked to Asteria.
"Oh... Of course, mummy and daddy still scared of you? You know it's not all that bad, there's worse things that have happened and I honestly think you should just get over it. Nothing is going to change." Snape folded his arms.
Asteria opened her mouth to speak but the words became stuck in her throat. It was as though the confidence she had slowly been gaining over the year had suddenly vanished and she felt so alone.
Maybe Snape was right, her parents would never change and there was nothing she could do about it.
"I-I need to go." Asteria hurriedly choked out before dashing from the compartment and stumbling down the train.
She needed to get as far away from everything and everyone as quickly as possible.
Or so she hoped.
Asteria's mind was racing and she could barely think or breath as she stumbled into the one person she had half been searching for.
Sirius Black leant against the window of the train watching the scenery roll in and out of view.
"Sirius," Asteria breathed out upon realising who it was.
"Wh-Ria?" He frowned before a smile grew on his face as he turned around to face her.
"You okay?" Sirius asked, holding his hand on Asteria's arm to steady her as she stopped in front of him.
"Er, yeah... No, not really." She shook in his hold.
"What's wrong? What is it? Need me to beat someone up?" Sirius scanned her face for any signal as to what was the cause of her stress.
"That didn't work so well last time." Asteria laughed nervously.
"Just, please tell me what's up."
"I'm just overreacting really, it's not that big of a deal. Snape just said some stuff about my parents and-"
"He did what?" Sirius almost shouted, his grip on her arm tightening and threatening to actually start hurting her.
"It wasn't anything nasty! He wasn't nasty, really. I'm just scared to go home because I'm going to be so alone and what Snape said might be right. What if they never understand, or if they never like me? Maybe I can't change them."
"Ria, are you alright? I spoke to Sev and I told him-"
Asteria turned around slightly to see Lily walking towards them, her hands balled into fists at her sides and her red hair flew about wildly.
"Go away Lily." Sirius gritted his teeth, "And go tell Snape I'll hex him if he ever - ever - does anything like that again I swear."
"Back out of this Black." Lily glared at him briefly, "Ria, he didn't mean what he said and-"
"Come on, let's go. I won't let anyone be nasty to you." Sirius dropped his grip on Asteria's arm and held her wrist now, pulling her away from Lily and down the train.
Sirius continued to move down the train, passing dozens of compartments and leading Asteria along. Neither spoke as Asteria was still slightly nervous and Sirius seemed to be radiating some sort of anger or hatred. He glanced in at every compartment before his eyes landed on an empty one that would provide the privacy they both craved.
"Come in." Sirius said quietly, dropping Asteria's wrist so he could allow her to step inside and he could shut the door behind them.
Asteria sat down, leaning against the window and pressing her hand against the cool glass. The condensation was refreshing to her touch, offering a much needed opportunity to focus on something mundane and allow her mind to relax.
"Ria, are you sure you want to go home?" Sirius asked, sitting down rather closely beside her on the bench.
"I love my parents, I really do. I want to see them." Asteria nodded, keeping her gaze focused on the view outside the window.
"Then why are you so scared?"
"Because they make me feel so isolated. I like being by myself quite a lot, but it's different at home. When I'm at home I'm not only physically alone but also completely separate from everything I love in the wizarding world and it's so lonely." She admitted.
"You know..." Sirius ran through his mind desperately trying to find something that could distract Asteria from her woes.
"What?" She asked, nudging him gently in the side with her elbow.
"When you meet my family, you'll realise that not all wizards are great. I mean they'll probably be pretty nasty, I'm not going to lie. They might say some nasty things but it'll teach them not to be so judging and..." Sirius trailed off, realising he probably wasn't improving Asteria's confidence, "Well, Yeah." He finished simply.
"Why were you alone before? Where were your other friends?" Asteria asked.
"Remus was at some perfecting thing and... James was being annoying because he wouldn't shut up about Lily, and Peter just sort of sat there so I got irritated and lied saying I needed the toilet." Sirius explained.
"I'm not saying you're lying but... That doesn't sound really true. I mean, wouldn't you just tell James to shut up? Why did you want to be alone?" She questioned.
"There's only so many times I can tell James to shut up."
"Sirius." Asteria raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, only because you told me what was worrying you, I'm actually a little nervous about going home. I'm going to spend all of Christmas arguing with my parents and listening to them insult me and all my friends." Sirius admitted sheepishly, turning away.
They were both suddenly aware of how close together they were sat. Their arms were pressed up against each other and the only sound that filled the compartment was that of the whirring train engine and their unsteady breathing. Neither of them wanted to go home but both were about to face it. However, they would always be there to help the other through it and that gave them enough confidence to face their families.