"Nott," Moody growled, "your coworker is here."
Asteria stopped writing and looked up. Her desk was piled sky-high with work. Her hair was frizzy and her dark circles had taken residence underneath her eyes.
"What?" Ast asked, her tone harsh.
"Don't speak to me like that, I said that your new coworker is here."
"But I'm doing fine on my own!"
"Have you seen the number of tasks you've taken on? A newbie will definitely crack under all this pressure."
"Well, I haven't."
"Yet."
Asteria glared at him. She liked Moody, she really did. He helped train her up to become an auror, making her quickly fly up the ranks, but he was incredibly hard on her. Sometimes, she felt as if he was doing it deliberately since no one else had it that bad. Being the youngest person on the team at the age of eighteen didn't help either.
Ast had only been working at the auror office for five months after graduating from Durmstrang in June. She immediately applied to become an auror and due to her outstanding academic achievements, she was given an interview a month later. It was a three-year-long training program, but was up to the challenge. She moved back to England with the rest of her family but was now living alone.
She hadn't heard anything from her old Hogwarts friends and only assumed that they didn't want to speak to her anymore. It was a shame, but she didn't let it get to her. She had more important things to worry about now instead of her friends from when she was a teenager.
"I'm not working with anyone," Ast said stubbornly.
"You will work with your coworker, and you're going to like it."
Moody moved out of the way to reveal a person standing behind him. Ast's eyes nearly popped out of their socket in shock.
"Ben?" She asked, hardly able to contain her excitement.
"It's good to see you too, Ast." He smiled, pulling her into a hug.
"How did I not know you were here?"
"I've been working at the French Ministry of Magic but was called back here due to "urgent demand". I prefer being back in England though."
"You know what? Thank you Moody for giving me a coworker."
"Remember that this is still work, so no chitter-chatter, am I clear?" Moody barked.
Ben and Ast quickly nodded their heads. Moody left Ast's office while the two sat down and began finishing Ast's paperwork, taking long breaks to chat in between.
At around four in the afternoon, Moody came back with a mission for the two.
"We have inside information that a Death Eater is going to meet someone at the Leaky Cauldron in twenty minutes. Since nobody is free to take on the task, I'm putting all my faith in you two, don't mess this up." He warned.
Ast saluted him. "We will bring him back without any struggle, I promise."
"Yeah well, don't salute me. Now get ready, you're leaving in five."
Ast and Ben halted their paperwork and began prepping for Ast's first ever mission. For the past five months, all she had been doing was paperwork and training, she had never been out in the field before. Now, this was all going to change and she couldn't wait to prove herself to Moody.
They disapparated and arrived just outside of the Leaky Cauldron. Since it was December, they quickly rushed inside to warm up. They ordered two Butterbeers and waited for any suspects to arrive. Around fifteen minutes later, a hooded figure arrived and sat down just behind Ben and Ast where a man was already sitting. Ben and Ast instantly fell silent and tried to listen in on their conversation but couldn't seem to hear anything.
Ast mouthed, "Muffilato" to Ben so he knew what was going on. He edged his chair ever so slightly to the right and his ears perked up. He must've broken the spell. Ast waited patiently for the next ten minutes while Ben listened in on their conversation.
Suddenly, the hooded figure stood up and made its way towards the exit. Ben indicated for them to follow so Ast quickly left money on the table and they left the pub. They followed the person down many streets until it turned onto an alleyway. It suddenly stopped walking and turned around, giving enough time for Ast and Ben to hide behind a wall. They held their breath, waiting for the figure to turn around.
Finally, when it continued walking, Ast and Ben walked away from their hiding place. However, the person drew out their wand and shot a disarming spell at them. Fortunately, Ast already had her wand out and stunned them. They fell to the floor. Ast, her wand still out, disarmed the person and walked over to them. The person's hood fell off, revealing a middle-aged man with dark brown hair. She couldn't recognise him but she didn't need to for he had a Dark Mark on his arm.
"Let's take him in," Ben said.
So together, they disapparated and arrived back at the auror office. Moody was already waiting for them and was surprised to find that his youngest and least skilled auror had managed to not only come back with their target but also remain unscathed. He congratulated them and ordered them to return back to their paperwork while he dealt with the man.
Finally, at almost midnight, Ast packed her things away and headed home. She was so tired that she accidentally apparated a street away from her house. Not bothered to exert energy on apparating again, she decided to just walk back. As she was walking past the local park, a black dog ran past her. She and the dog stopped and turned towards each other.
Ast blinked and rubbed her eyes, not believing them for one second. She had seen this dog before. When the dog didn't seem to disappear, she approached it cautiously.
"Sirius?" She asked.
The dog woofed and ran away from her, Ast couldn't help but follow it as it led her down an alleyway with only one way out. She watched as the dog transformed into a tall man.
"It's good to see you, Vix." The man said.
Ast was lost for words. Standing in front of her was indeed Sirius Black. Her heart raced as she took in his appearance. His hair had gotten longer and was almost down to his back, a beard and mustache was growing on his face, his facial features were more pronounced and chiseled and muscles seemed to be bulging from underneath his clothes.
He opened his arms up and Ast found herself running into them. Her wide smile not breaking from her face as Sirius lifted her up and spun her around until they both got dizzy.
"You've changed so much!" Ast exclaimed as he put her down.
"So have you!"
"No, I haven't."
"Yes, you have. Your hairs longer, you're taller, your body is," he moved his hands simultaneously to emphasize her curves. "And let's not forget to mention that you're incredibly pretty now."
"So I wasn't pretty before?" She teased.
"Oh, you were very pretty before, but now you're just drop-dead gorgeous."
Ast blushed, "Since when have you been so nice?"
"Since my favourite Marauder has decided to rise from the dead." He laughed.
"How are the others?"
"We're all at Marlene's I was just outside 'cause I needed some fresh air."
"Really?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, c'mon I'll take you there."
"Oh um- do I look alright?"
"As I said before, you look gorgeous."
He took her hand in his and led her to a house not far away from where they were. Sirius opened the door up and she was instantly met with an overpowering stench of cinnamon that made her nose twitch. Sirius led her into an empty living room.
"Oh, people!" He called. "Look what I picked up on the street."
Ast heard James's voice before she could see him and it sent a rush of thrill inside of her.
"Sirius I swear if it's another one of those neighbourhood cats, I'm going to kill-"
James and Lily walked into the room and stopped dead when they saw Ast.
"Holy fucking shit." Lily breathed.
"Lily!" Sirius said, astounded by her use of vocabulary.
James and Lily immediately tackled Ast into a hug, knocking her onto a nearby sofa. They giggled as they sat back up but Marlene, Dorcas and Peter rushed towards her, knocking her down again. Ast finally sat up and couldn't believe what she was seeing. All of her friends were all together again- well, almost all of them.
"Where's Moony?" Sirius asked.
"He's coming now," Lily said, eyeing Ast.
As if on cue, the door that everyone else came through opened again and out came Remus wiping dusty hands on an apron. He looked up curiously at all the people watching him but his heart flipped when he saw her.
"Hi," he said shyly.
But Ast didn't care about the awkwardness between them because she jumped onto him, with Remus only barely able to catch her. He spun her around as they enjoyed each other's embrace.
"This can't be real," he whispered.
"Do I need to pinch you?" She giggled.
He held her tighter, thanking the stars for his wonderful gift.
"So what's been going on?" Ast asked once they were all seated in Marlene's kitchen.
"Well for starters," James began, "Lily and I are together."
"What did you do James? Give her a love potion?"
James glared at her, "As a matter of fact, no, I didn't,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Alright alright, keep your hair on. Any more couples that I should know about?" Her eyes drifted to Remus sitting at the head of the table.
"Marlene and I are still together," Dorcas said, taking Marlene's hand in hers.
"I knew you'd still be together. And what about you three?" Ast asked, turning to Peter, Sirius and Remus.
They all shook their heads.
Remus was single. Ast's heart raced at the thought.
"So what have you been doing, Ast?" Sirius asked.
She recounted what happened after she left Hogwarts. Why she left, what happened to Oscar and about her job. After she finished telling them what happened, they all congratulated her on becoming an auror.
It felt like she was back at Hogwarts and they were all sixteen again. She realised, that in a span of three years, her friends had changed so much. The war had matured them, they were more solemn and tired-looking since the last time she saw them. The war had affected everyone though.
A few hours later, and many conversations about their times at Hogwarts, Ast decided to leave. It was almost three in the morning and all the shock from today was taking a toll on her.
"Yeah we better be going too," Lily said, picking up her coat. "Oh Ast, we're having Christmas dinner at our house, be sure to come."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Lils," Ast smiled.
And with that, James and Lily bid goodnight and disapparated. Ast said goodbye to Marlene and Dorcas and head outside with Remus, Peter and Sirius.
"Uh... I better be going," Remus said hastily.
"Oh, well-" Ast began.
But it was too late, Remus had already apparated away before she could say goodbye. That was weird. Even earlier, he seemed to be avoiding her whenever she wanted to talk to him.
Peter bid goodnight and disapparated too.
"Liven up, Padfoot," Ast said, noticing Sirius's frown.
"Hmm? Oh sorry," he said.
"Wait, aren't you staying with James?"
"Well, I was, until Lily moved in. I didn't want to third wheel. Plus, the walls are quite thin you can hear everything. I had to learn that the hard way."
Her face contoured into a smile. "Where are you staying now?"
"The Leaky Cauldron, it's not the best. But it'll have to do."
"You can always stay at mine if you want, I've got an extra room,"
His eyes lit up, "Really?"
"Of course."
"No- I feel like a burden."
"No, no, it's fine. Besides, I need company anyway 'cause it's so lonely."
Sirius agreed and she and him walked back to her house. She showed him his room and then bid goodnight herself. She mindlessly pulled her clothes off, changed into her pajamas and went to sleep.
*****
The next morning, Ast woke up to the sound of crashing pots and pans. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and crept downstairs, ready to hex the intruder if she needed to. The sound seemed to come from the kitchen, so that's where she went. As she neared the kitchen, she heard something, or someone, bustling about. She kicked the door open and pointed her wand at-
"Oh, it's you," she said, lowering her wand.
Sirius, looked up at Ast, both of his hands in the air. A puddle of coffee and a broken mug were on the floor. She bent down to clear the mess up, but Sirius had the same idea. They bumped into each other and his heart skipped a beat.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"No problem, just be careful next time," she said, shoving him out of the way to clear the mess with her wand.
The coffee puddle disappeared and the mug fixed itself and went back onto the counter.
"How 'bout I make it," she offered, grabbing another mug from the cabinet and pouring coffee into it.
"Yeah, I think that's for the best," he said. "Any plans for today?"
"Well, I'm heading to Diagon Alley to buy some presents for the others, do you want to come?"
"Oh yeah sure, I guess I'll do some more shopping,"
"Excellent," she said, handing him the mug of coffee.
He took it gratefully and Ast downed her's in one chug. He looked at her in alarm.
"You're crazy,"
"Aren't we all?" She smirked.
His heart skipped a beat again. Merlin. What was wrong with him? Why was Ast suddenly giving him these weird feelings?
Half an hour later, they apparated into Diagon Alley. Since it was Christmas Eve, there were only last-minute shoppers out. Ast just hoped that not everything was sold out and that she'd be able to buy something decent for her friends and family. They agreed to split up and meet each other back at The Leaky Cauldron in one hour.
An hour later, they met outside of The Leaky Cauldron. However, they almost bumped into a red-headed lady carrying far too many packages as they entered.
"Molly!" Sirius said, helping the lady to steady herself.
"Oh, Sirius!" She said. "It's good to see you."
"How are you doing Molly? How are the kids?"
"Oh, everything's fine." She looked at Ast. "And you must be Sirius's girlfriend?"
"Oh no no, I'm Asteria," Ast said, turning red as she extended her hand for her to shake.
"Silly me," she laughed, shifting the packages onto one arm and shaking her hand. "I heard Alastor tell my husband about what you did yesterday,"
Sirius looked at Ast questioningly. "What did you do?"
"She caught a Death Eater for Merlin's sake! And she's only been working there for five months, Alastor's very impressed,"
"Well it wasn't only me there was someone else-" Ast began.
"Well, I best be off," Molly interrupted. "It was nice meeting you Asteria."
"Bye Molly!" Sirius waved.
Molly headed off, away from the pub. Sirius and Ast walked inside and ordered a Butterbeer each. It was much quieter today than yesterday. She supposed people were too busy doing last-minute shopping to stop off at the pub. They took a seat close to the fire and Sirius leaned forward.
"You didn't tell me you caught a Death Eater," he whispered.
"Hmm, must've slipped my mind," she replied, taking a swig of Butterbeer.
He glared at her and she stuck her tongue out at him in return.
*****
"AST WAKE UP ITS CHRISTMAS!" Sirius yelled outside of her door.
"Five more minutes, please," she groaned.
It was only 8:00 why did she need to wake up so early?
Sirius continued to bang on her door.
"I'm coming in!"
"Please don't." She called.
The door burst open and Sirius came rushing in. He walked over to her curtains and pulled them open, letting sunlight filter in. He then walked over to her bed and started to violently shake her.
"Alright alright, I'm up," she said, trying to push Sirius off her.
"C'mon then princess, or shall I bring breakfast up to you with classical music on in the background?"
"That would be nice,"
He groaned and grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it at her. She got out of bed and tried to tackle him, but he ran away. She followed him all the way downstairs to the living room. He suddenly stopped running and she caught her chance to throw him onto the sofa. She then began to play-wrestle with him.
She stopped to catch her breath for a second. Sirius threw a sofa cushion at her, causing her to fall onto him. Too close.
Way too close.
They locked eyes. Sirius moved his head forward ever so slightly. No, he couldn't do this. He pushed himself away from her and walked to the kitchen, leaving her lying on the sofa confused. He just hoped that Ast couldn't hear his hammering heart.