"I can't make exceptions for my friends, that'd be breaking the rules!" Lily exclaimed.
"That's the point." Asteria folded her arms.
"Prefects can't get students out of homework even if they wanted to."
Asteria eyed Lily as they walked down the corridor, "Then what even is the point in being a prefect if you can't break the rules?"
"If you don't quit being annoying I'll have to take house points away from you." Lily laughed.
"Like you'd do that."
"You're in Slytherin so I'd only be helping out my own house."
"You can't do that!" Asteria exclaimed.
"Well what exactly is the point in being a prefect if I can't break the rules?" Lily smirked.
"You can't twist my words like that." Asteria grumbled as they entered the Great Hall.
"I think you'll find that's not against the rules." Lily replied smugly.
"You not going to sit with the other Gryffindors?" Asteria asked as Lily followed her towards the Slytherin table.
"I might get harassed by Potter and his friends so no."
"You secretly like it." Asteria grinned.
"Why don't you go and sit with them then? You and Black are proper buddies nowadays." Lily chuckled as she nudged Asteria in the side.
They sat at the very edge of the Slytherin table, far away from the others.
"Yeah well I'm pretty sure that's over now." Asteria shrugged, "He probably only wanted to hang out with me so I'd freak his family out and I did that."
"To be fair you used him to show your family that wizards were good people." Lily pointed out.
"Well..." Asteria frowned slightly, "It worked, my mum is on my side now."
"Exactly... Clearly you two like each other so why don't you just-"
"Like each other? What's that supposed to mean?" Her frown increased.
"When a boy and a girl like each other very much they kiss to show their feelings." Lily laughed.
"Oh shut up!" Asteria exclaimed, glancing around to see if anyone had heard them.
"So you like him?" Lily smirked.
"I don't like anyone. Not even you right now." Asteria poked around at the food on her plate.
"Okay... Changing the topic..." Lily rested her head on her hand and watched Asteria. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the owls arrived.
"No mail today?" Asteria asked, noticing that no letter had arrived for her friend.
"My parents are on holiday for the week." Lily explained simply, "Petunia wasn't very happy about having to stay with our grandparents... Somehow she managed to blame me for that as well."
"Petunia's crazy." Asteria rolled her eyes, "I know that and I haven't even met her."
Lily pursed her lips, "She's not crazy. I think she's just jealous and I wish she didn't hate me. I just want to get along with her... You know?"
"Yeah, I have a similar problem where I don't get along with my parents. I understand it's hard." Asteria comforted casually.
"Sorry, that was a little off topic." Lily admitted, brushing her hair over her shoulder.
Suddenly a scream emanated from one of the other tables.
"What in Merlin's name is-" Asteria looked up and her eyes connected with a rather startled looking Sirius who had jumped from his seat and was holding a scarlet letter in his hand.
She too rose from her seat, watching Sirius across the hall as he dropped the letter and it continued to shriek at him.
"Sirius Orion Black the Third!" The letter rose up into the air, tearing itself open, "Your Grandfather and I are beyond disgusted and appalled at the stunt you pulled! Good thing we weren't there when it happened! What were you thinking bringing a mudblood into our respectable house? The horror you put your parents through? Good thing Regulus wasn't there!"
The letter continued to shout and scream and hurl abuse at the boy for another couple minutes. Asteria froze as the listened to it - the insults and the foul language that erupted from it. She watched as Sirius sat back down in his seat and casually drank from his drink whilst the letter continued to bellow at him.
Once it had finished, the letter signed off as Sirius' grandmother and finally tore itself up into a million tiny pieces that floated down into his dish of food.
"You should go and talk to him." Lily suggested quietly as the hall remained silent for a moment following the chaos.
"I wouldn't know what to say." Asteria began, "My family has never been so nasty."
"That doesn't mean he wouldn't want to talk to you."
Asteria ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "Okay, alright."
Slowly Asteria stepped away from her seat and the Slytherin table, tentatively making her way over towards where Sirius and his friends were sat. They laughed loudly, almost as though they'd already forgotten about what had happened only seconds ago.
"S-"
Asteria stopped speaking as she overheard what was being said.
"Why don't you just come clean about everything? All of it. Then you can tell her how you actually feel-" Remus started.
"Do you want me to tell Asteria that I only asked her out and only befriended her to use against my own family? She's not interested in me anymore and I'll just have to go back to focusing on other girls." Sirius grumbled.
James and Remus looked at each other, "Sirius you're an idiot."
"Yeah I used her and-" Sirius finally moved his gaze upwards from the table to see her, "Ria?"
Asteria opened her mouth to speak but her mouth had run dry.
"Oh no..." James mumbled before being elbowed in the side by Remus.
"No... No it's alright. I was just coming to check you were okay but... But never mind." She choked out slightly, hurriedly turning away from him.
"Ria, wait, I can explain!" Sirius dashed after her.
Once they were outside the Great Hall, Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled Asteria around to face him. Their eyes fell down to where they were holding hands.
"S-Sorry." Sirius dripped her hand and stepped away a little.
"Just let me explain." Sirius pleaded.
"You explained plenty before. It's fine just... Just leave me alone." Asteria went to walk away from Sirius but he followed her outside.
"I don't want to - I can't leave you alone. Please, Ria." He didn't know what to say. For once in his life Sirius Black was speechless.
"I get it. I'm some weird muggle born Slytherin loner - not the usual flirty girl you go for. That's fine but I thought we were friends. Clearly I was wrong so... I'll just go. It's fine, feel free to not speak to me anymore." Asteria finally stormed away, stomping across the courtyard and disappearing out of view.
Asteria couldn't believe it. She didn't understand why she was so upset over the matter, it's not like she'd done anything better than Sirius. They had been using each other for their own purposes, but hearing those words come out of his mouth. Knowing she was just another fling that didn't quite work out to him, it hurt. So Asteria sat on one of the outside benches, hugging her knees up to her chest as she let a single tear roll down her cheek.
She hurriedly tried to brush it away, frantically rubbing at her cheek with her sleeve and turning her skin red. Like so many girls before her, Asteria cried over Sirius Black.
Little did she know, unlike ever before, Sirius Black shed a single tear over Asteria Halloway.