"A very successful mission, don't you think?" Asteria grinned and turned to face Sirius as they sat in front of the Black Lake.
"I think that cupboard gave me asthma there was so much dust in it." Sirius grumbled, "Does my hair still look good?"
She laughed, "Your hair always looks impeccable. Seriously though, do you use a spell to make it defy gravity like that?"
Sirius swatted Asteria's hand away as she twirled a strand of his hair between her fingers, "Trade secret." He winked.
Asteria leant back on her hands as she stared out at the water gently lapping at the shore. Her eyes followed the sunlight dancing on the water's surface, creating a diamond-like appearance. Sirius watched the way Asteria's eyes lit up and a small smile emerged on her face, smiling himself at the sight.
"Have you ever tried braiding your hair?" Asteria asked, turned to face Sirius with a mischievous smirk plastered on her lips now.
Sirius coughed slightly, "No. I'm afraid to ask why."
"...And what exactly is the chance of me being able to put a braid in your hair?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Never. Going. To. Happen." Sirius moved away from Asteria warily.
"Oh please! Only a tiny one. I promise it will look great. You can take it out after if you want. Please!" Asteria pleaded, pouting at Sirius.
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
"Pretty please?"
"Nope."
"With sugar on top?"
"Okay, fine. But you're not allowed to tell anyone about this." Sirius gave in, "Ever." He held up a finger warningly.
"You're going to love it." Asteria laughed, holding her hands on Sirius' cheeks as she pressed a kiss to his lips before shuffling to sit behind him. Sirius rolled his eyes at his own weakness as Asteria began to braid his hair.
"What happens if somebody walks by? What will they think?" Sirius fretted, causing Asteria to giggle to herself.
"They'll think you have even better hair than usual." She replied.
"I'm being serious." He muttered.
"You're always Sirius." Asteria laughed again.
"You're having too much fun with this." Sirius started to shake his head.
"Stop it!" Asteria shrieked, holding onto Sirius' hair to stop the braid falling out, "I thought the whole point of this was to have fun?"
Sirius shook his head again, "As long as you're having fun, I'll suffer."
He would have been lying if he said he didn't enjoy Asteria messing with his hair. He would definitely have been lying if he said he wouldn't do anything to make her laugh.
"There we go. Done." Asteria tied it with a small bobble at the end and leaned back, marvelling at her work, "A nice little side braid for you. I reckon this will be trending around Hogwarts soon enough."
"How much do I look like a girl?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"No more than usual." Asteria grinned.
"You know we are officially going out now... So..." Sirius pursed his lips and kept his eyes down as he reached for Asteria's hand.
"So what?"
"So maybe quit it with the jokes about me being a girl?" He admitted with a slight shrug.
"I'll just have to find something else to wind you up about then." Asteria grinned, kissing Sirius' cheek sweetly.
Asteria shook her head, "What time is it? Lily said she had something to talk to me about before she went to that Slug Club party." She rolled her eyes.
"Let's get going then." Sirius clambered to his feet and held out a hand for Asteria. She took it gratefully and started to laugh again as she noticed Sirius hadn't yet undone his hair.
"I don't know what I'd have done if I walked in the castle with this thing still in my hair." Sirius grumbled to himself.
"Oh do keep it in. I think it'll be hilarious." Asteria bit down on her tongue to try and conceal her laughter.
"Fine, I will. When all the girls start hitting on me, then you'll know you've made a mistake." Sirius folded his arms as he turned his head away from Asteria.
"You are brilliant." She smiled as they trekked back up towards the castle.
"I know." Sirius smirked smugly, "What does Lily want to talk to you about?"
"Dunno." Asteria shrugged, "Some surprise or something."
Lily was pacing back and forth in the courtyard, waiting for Asteria to turn up. She glanced at the watch on her wrist as she continued to impatiently tap her foot on the floor. Other students would stare at her as they walked past - Lily was wearing a rather formal dress after all. If Asteria didn't turn up soon, Lily would be late to the party and she wasn't about to let that happen.
Finally, just as the sun was beginning to set, Asteria finally arrived back up at the castle with Sirius.
"Ria! I don't think you could have walked any slower! I have the best news!" Lily squealed, grabbing Asteria's arm and pulling her into the castle, "See you Black; this is private."
Asteria shot Sirius an apologetic look over her shoulder before following Lily inside to hear what she had to say.
"Lil? What is it? I've never seen you so excited." Asteria half-laughed as Lily came to a stop and turned to face her.
"So I was speaking with Slughorn earlier." Lily began, a large grin growing on her face.
"Please don't tell me you got me invited to one of his parties. No matter how much you say the food is great, I don't want to go." Asteria rolled her eyes.
"No! I mean, the food is brilliant - that's beside the point." Lily shook her head, "I was talking to Slughorn and I convinced him of something. Guess what."
Asteria raised an eyebrow as she looked at her friend skeptically.
"Go on, guess!" Lily was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
"You convinced him to stop picking favourites in lessons?" She shrugged.
"No! I can't wait let me just tell you!" Lily exclaimed, "You have to keep this a secret though."
Sirius kicked at the floor as he walked back up to the Gryffindor common room. Upon remembering, Sirius began to untie the braid that remained in his hair. He was quite interested in what was so important that Lily had to tell Asteria in private. Truth be told, Sirius was hoping Asteria would confide whatever it was in him. About to begin climbing the final flight of stairs, he spied his brother striding down towards him.
"Reg, what're you doing?" Sirius frowned as Regulus walked down from the Gryffindor common room.
"I'm looking for you." Regulus spoke sternly, "Have you been with Halloway?"
Sirius coughed, "You mean Asteria? Why's it your business?"
Sirius hated the cold and distance that had grown between him and his brother over recent years. It had of course all stemmed from Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor and having his eyes opened to the false-superiority of his family and other pureblood maniacs. This difference in views led to a downhill spiral. Sometimes Sirius couldn't even look himself in the mirror because he looked so much like his disgusting father.
"You know she's a bad influence right?" Regulus warned, "It's not like she actually cares about you."
"What are you on about?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"I'm trying to help you here. Mother and Father will forgive you if you just get rid of her." Regulus almost pleaded.
"This is a new low. If you're all so pathetic that a muggle born is such a threat, then quite frankly I don't want anything to do with you." Sirius spat before barging past Regulus and ascending the stairs towards him common room.
Regulus didn't know how else to go about it. He wouldn't let his family be torn up by some girl that Sirius would date for a few more weeks at most. Sirius was clearly deluded and Regulus had no choice but to take it into his own hands to fix the matter.