"I'm not so sure about this." Sirius shook his head as James followed along beside him.
"I'm giving you the best advice here! I know exactly what I'm doing." James nodded.
"Then why aren't you and Lily together yet?"
James coughed, "That's a working progress. Some things shouldn't be rushed."
Sirius just continued to shake his head as the two boys arrived back at the Gryffindor common room.
"Listen, I'll give you my cloak and you go and get her. Then the two of you can spend all night together... Under the stars... Maybe a teacher will walk past and you'll have to hide together in a cupboard pressed up against each other." James smirked, staring at the wall as he imagined it.
"Dude!" Sirius punched him in the arm.
"What's going on now?" Remus looked up from his book as he sat in front of the fire.
"Nothing." Sirius grumbled, throwing himself down to sit beside Remus.
"I think Sirius should take Asteria to get the mandrake leaves tonight." James explained, "Then he can finally man up and tell her she looks hot and he wants to make out with her."
Remus frowned, "James this might be why Lily hates you." Then he laughed, "Or at least one of the many reasons."
James looked startled as he stood in front of the two boys, glancing between them, "Where's Peter? He'll take my side."
"Sirius, I think you should be nice to Asteria. Don't act like a rebel or play mind games or whatever just show an interest in her - like a decent person." Remus said.
"I am a decent person; I am genuinely interested! It's just, we're friends and I don't really want to ruin that but..." Sirius pulled at his hair.
"Just grab her face and kiss her. It's simple." James shrugged, leaning against the wall smugly.
"It's anything but simple." Sirius said, "She doesn't like me. She's this sort of... lone wolf kind of person."
"So are you. You hate teamwork and agreeing with people and sharing. Yet you're fine doing all that with her so clearly you like her." Remus pointed out, "And if she's so independent, why does she suddenly want to spend so much time around you?"
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and thought for a second. He didn't want to put up some facade or act like he did with other girls. This was different somehow. He wanted to impress her and really didn't want to hurt her feelings. With other girls, he hadn't cared how angry or upset they were with him after it ended. Sirius not only cared what Asteria thought of him but also didn't want to see anything end with her.
"Okay, get me your cloak." Sirius turned to James.
Asteria stood outside her own common room. She stared up at the large door, feeling the password on the tip of her tongue but unsure as to whether or not she wanted to say it. Over the years the passwords seemed to rotate over a variety of different ways of saying pureblood or insulting those who weren't. This not only annoyed but also upset Asteria as every time she tried to enter her only safe space in the school, she had to utter "pureblood" as if downgrading herself.
She bit her lip before opening her mouth. But before she could actually get inside the Slytherin common room, some skidded around the corner and hurtled into her side.
"Watch it!" Asteria grumbled as she lay on her back on the cold stone floor, rubbing her head and keeping her eyes closed.
"Sorry-sorry!" Sirius exclaimed, clambering to his feet and holding out his hand.
"Sirius? What are you doing?" She frowned up at him, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her up.
"The mandrake leaves. We need to get them." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Woah woah." Asteria stepped back, "I thought the brave men were in charge of getting the leaves."
Sirius chuckled, "Yeah, I am the brave man." He placed his hands on his hips.
Asteria laughed, "Right, whatever you say."
"Look, I've got the cloak and it'll be an adventure. Have you ever even been out after hours? I'll show you the school kitchens and the house elves and all the food that's down there too." He suggested hopefully as he held up said cloak.
"Before or after we've stolen from the greenhouses?"
"Before. Probably."
Asteria laughed again, "Okay, show me what's so great about sneaking around school at night."
Sirius moved the cloak over himself and held it out for Asteria to move under. The cloak fell around them and Asteria's vision was slightly distorted - almost blurry - as she looked around.
"Everything looks a bit off, doesn't it?" Sirius spoke the words running through her head.
"Yeah... Yeah..." She nodded.
"Well, come on then. Let's go get those mandrake leaves." Sirius held his hand out and Asteria entwined their fingers as he hurriedly led her away.
In the dark, they pushed open the large door to the school and snuck out of the small gap in the doorway. Side by side, their shoulders pressed up together, they slowly walked down the grounds and towards the greenhouses. The stars glistened above them as they moved through the cold air, only stopping when they thought they heard footsteps.
"How many leaves do we need?" Sirius asked as they arrived at their destination.
"One for each person I think... So that's three for all of you." Asteria shrugged, taking a hold of one of the plant leaves in her hands.
"Let's just get a load in case we need anymore." Sirius suggested.
"Do you have anything to cut these with?" Asteria asked, looking over at him.
"No." He admitted, "Although we do have our wands." He turned to face her.
They stood so close together under the cloak, their breath mingling in the small space between them as they continued to watch each other.
"Good thinking." Asteria broke their eye contact first as she reached into her robe pocket and pulled out her dark wand.
"Erm, what spell do I use?" She asked, "And I probably shouldn't cast it whilst under the cloak."
"No, right." Sirius lifted the cloak so her wand could poise in the direction of the plant leaves, "The severing charm?"
Asteria nodded and, with a small flick of the wrist and a faint tearing sound, several leaves fell off the plant and into Sirius' outstretched hand.
"Phase one of the plan is complete." Sirius tightened his grip around the leaves.
"Want me to take them? So you don't lose them?" Asteria raised an eyebrow.
"Good thinking." Sirius said, passing her the leaves so she could pocket them.
"Is anybody out there?"
The two students froze at the sound of the loud call coming from out of view. Asteria paled and glanced worryingly at Sirius as if he knew what to do next. Thankfully, he did.
"Let's go, come on!" Sirius hissed, grabbing Asteria's hand again and running away from the scene. The sprinted together, clutching the cloak tightly around their bodies as they made their way back towards the entrance of the castle.
"Who's there?"
They caught sight of Filch now. He held a large lamp in one hand and a long stick in the other. He glared around, in search of where the noise of footsteps was coming from. His cat, Mrs Norris, patrolled around in circles at his feet.
"Want to see something funny?" Sirius whispered to Asteria.
She smirked, "Go on then." Her voice barely a whisper.
"Are there students out of bed?" Filch called out.
"This is Albus Dumbledore." Sirius spoke loudly, deepening his voice whilst doing so.
Filch frowned, "P-Professor?"
"How dare you speak to me in such a way!" Sirius shouted loudly.
Filch spun around on his feet, staring at where Asteria and Sirius now stood.
"I'm imagining things..." Filch spoke slowly, "That's not the Headmaster..."
"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just me, Severus Snape." Asteria piped up, holding her nose as she spoke to sound more nasally, "I'll race you back to the Slytherin common room!"
Sirius opened his mouth and clapped his hand to his face as Filch gritted his teeth before running off in the direction of the Slytherin common room, "You filthy student!" He shouted as he ran off.
"That." Sirius turned to face Asteria, "Was pure genius!"
"Has been known to happen on occasion." She smirked.
"You should definitely come and prank with us sometime." Sirius nodded.
"Well that's the deal I've negotiated for helping in your transformations, isn't it?"
"Let's talk more about this over some cake in the kitchens." He grinned.
"Sounds delightful."