Asteria and Sirius sat quietly staring out at the Black Lake that was glistening on the first dry and sunny day of the term. Asteria had her arms hung loosely around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder with her legs curled up almost in his lap. Sirius tightly held one arm around her waist and stared intently out at the water.
"I just feel so guilty about it all." He mumbled, dropping his head down to rest on top of Asteria's.
"You know you shouldn't. Right?" She pointed out.
"It's just." Sirius stammered, "It's my fault he died. If it wasn't for me... If-if I had just been sorted into Slytherin and I hadn't left my family... My uncle Alphard wouldn't be dead right now. How is that not my fault?"
Asteria sat up suddenly, crouching in front of Sirius to stare face on at him. "Did you personally use the killing curse against him? Did you murder him yourself?" She questioned, earning only a shake of the head in response. "Then it's not your fault." She stated, "You can't be blame for someone else's actions."
"Why not? It is my fault."
"Sirius." Asteria sighed with exasperation, "If I stuck my leg out and tripped you over one day, would it be your fault you fell because you were walking past doing your own thing? No. It would be my fault because I stuck my leg out. You're not to blame because you're living how you wish to." She explained.
Sirius opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as James Potter stumbled onto the scene through some hedges. His glasses were askew and there were leaves littered in his curly hair.
"You guys! I need to ask a huge favour..." He stammered, staring wildly at them.
"Prongs-"
Sirius was cut off yet again by a distant yell.
"JAMES POTTER!"
Asteria's mouth dropped open and she started roaring with laughter at the sound of Lily Evan's shriek. Sirius put his head in his hands, muttering "Oh James..."
"What did you do?" Asteria giggled as the sound of hurried footsteps got nearer.
"You've got to hide m-" James hissed.
"James!" Lily shouted, storming onto the scene with her cheeks flushed as red as her hair which was standing up at all ends.
"Lils-listen-Lils! I'm so sorry! The jinx wasn't meant to hit you! You have to believe me!" James jumped to his feet, backing away from the girl that practically had steam pouring out of her ears.
Lily narrowed her eyes, "James Potter you are an absolute moron!"
"Well we could have told you that before you started dating him." Sirius added with a smirk. The causes Asteria to start laughing, which infected Lily as she dropped her serious expression and started to giggle. James began nervously chuckling along unsure of how exactly Lily was feeling about him.
And just like that the group were free to act like real teenagers for once. For just a moment any fear of the growing darkness outside of the Hogwarts' walls had vanished.
Then Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew arrived.
Remus rolled his eyes, "Merlin's beard it's like you four want me to be sick."
"J-James, Lily... Sirius, we all have to go and see Dumbledore." Peter stammered as he arrived at the scene.
"You two really do lighten the mood, don't you?" Sirius muttered, leaning back against the tree as he gently pulled Asteria to sit closer to him.
"Shut up, Padfoot." Remus scoffed before pretending to heave.
"Moony, you're just jealous." Sirius retaliated.
"Guys!" Peter complained.
"Shut up the both of you." Lily interjected, "What were you saying, Peter?"
"Dumbledore asked for us." Peter explained.
"Why?" James frowned.
Remus rubbed his temples, "McGonagall found Wormtail and I and told us that Dumbledore had requested to talk to our gang privately in his office."
"Why?" James asked again.
Peter sighed, "If we knew that we would have already said something."
"Well we can't keep Professor Dumbledore waiting." Lily rose quickly, "Let's go, come on."
The group clambered to their feet, Asteria helping Sirius up with a laugh, and they began hiking back up towards the castle.
"We're definitely in trouble." Sirius muttered.
"For what?" Asteria narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What did you do?"
"What did you do?" Lily peered over at James.
"Nothing!" He replied in a high pitched voice, "Absolutely nothing."
"Padfoot, Prongs, if you've got us all in trouble I swear-" Remus exclaimed with exasperation.
"We didn't do anything!" Sirius grumbled, "I bet Snape has snitched on us for something we didn't even do."
"Sounds like Snivellus." James mumbled under his breath so Lily couldn't hear.
Sirius continued to complain, "I've already got two months of detention as it is I don't physically have time for anymore."
"And whose fault is that?" Asteria elbowed him gently in the side with a smirk.
They approached the castle finally to see Professor McGonagall waiting for them outside the large front doors. She peered down at the students through the small glasses that rested right on the tip of her nose.
"Head on up. The headmaster is waiting for you." She told them shortly, watching as they nervously walked past before turning on her heels and striding down one of the corridors.
"Minnie sure is in a bit of a mood today." Sirius chuckled, tossing an arm around Asteria's shoulders.
"I can still hear you, Black." McGonagall called out from the end of the corridor as she turned back to them.
Remus snorted, "Better make a run for it while you still can."
"I don't think a dog can outrun a cat." James chuckled, pushing his glasses up his face as Lily leant across him to fluff up his hair more.
"Would you look at that! Prongs has his own hairdresser." Sirius shot back quickly.
"You could do with your own." Peter quipped.
"Hey!" Sirius shouted.
"Awe..." Asteria cooed, "Don't listen to them, you're hair is just nice the way it is."
"There's no need to mock me." Sirius pouted as the others shared another laugh.
"Okay, alright... Let's go upstairs quickly." Lily urged the group as they arrived at the foot of the griffon staircase.
They began climbing the stairs that revealed themselves but Asteria lingered at the bottom for a while.
"What are you doing?" Sirius questioned, looking down at her as he was already halfway up the staircase.
"The professor probably doesn't want to talk to me." Asteria replies quietly, hoping the others wouldn't hear her as they'd already made their way up.
"And why not?" Sirius frowned.
"Well he clearly just wants to talk to you guys. I don't really fit in."
"Ria, I swear if this is about you being a Slytherin-you've been part of our group for over a year now. Dumbledore isn't blind." Sirius sighed, desperate for Asteria to stop excluding herself.
Asteria shook her head, "It's fine, honestly. You go up."
"I'm not going up without you."
"Just go. You can tell me all about it afterwards. Professor Dumbledore doesn't want me hanging about in his office."
"As if the old man cares." Sirius rolled his eyes.
Asteria stared intently at him, "You can't keep him waiting, go. I'll stay here."
With a final huff of defeat, Sirius turned around disappointed and vanished out of sight up into the headmaster's office.
Asteria leant against the wall, kicking at the dusk that laced the old stone floor of the school. She dug her hands deeply into her pockets and hoped they wouldn't be too long. The sun was beginning to set outside and she began to wonder if she would be stood out here for hours, possibly.
Yet just as that thought entered her mind, the staircase spun around, causing her to jump.
"Merlin's be-P... Professor Dumbledore." Asteria stood straight up, taking a nervous step backwards.
"Miss Halloway." He began, "Why did you not come up into my office when I asked for you?"
"I-I didn't think you wanted to talk to me." Asteria's voice was nearly a whisper.
Dumbledore chuckled slightly, "My dear, you're perhaps the one I wished to speak to most of all."
"I just didn't... Didn't think..." Asteria trailed off, unsure of his exactly to respond.
"Mister Black seems most on edge with you waiting down here. The two of you seem to have become somewhat reliant on each other." He pointed out, a glimmer emerging in his eyes.
"I, well, yes, Professor. I suppose we have. We... erm... We support each other." Asteria mumbled, feeling her cheeks flush red.
"And your whole group of friends does that too?" Dumbledore quizzed.
She replied, "Yes, Professor."
"Well, that is just what I need."
"Excuse me?" Asteria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"Come upstairs and let me explain to you about The Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore smiled.