Divining Two Worlds

A Chaotic Christmas

Christmas break came.Asteria had no plans to return to the orphanage and signed up to stay at Hogwarts, besides a depressing little group of Snape, Black, Gertie Mallory, Matt Fitsgerald and Tabatha Smith.The snow fell and piled like something right out of a fairytale, the morning crisp on the last walk Asteria took with Delphi before she was to return to her cozy house in Godric Hollow.

They indulged in a snowball fight with the Prewett twins, Fabian and Gideon retreating after Marlene, Dorcas and Morrigan had aided the revolt.Asteria bade a good Christmas to her fellow Gryffindors and Delphi before they left for Hogsmeade station.

She returned besides Gertie, who separated from the Hufflepuff dormitory and entered her own empty one, taking a seat by the fire, a little disturbed by the quiet and proceeded to play a game of wizards chess by herself before Black burst into the room.

'Foxglove' he greeted.

'What do you want?' she snapped

'Your help'

'I'm not helping you make Snape's life miserable for no apparent reason'

Black rolled his eyes. 'He's a Slytherin and a soon to be dark one if you hadn't notice'

'So what do you need help with?'

'I want to get Delphi a present, but I don't know what she likes'.

Asteria stared shocked at him.Sirius Black, she admitted reluctantly was very good looking and popular among the lovestruck girls, but had never returned their crushes.He lacked interest and his bluntness wasn't meant to be rude ,but forever was his attention to the marauders and pranking alone.Yet Sirius didn't blush or fiddle or display any romantic motives, maybe he was a messenger for James or Peter.Maybe even Remus, which Asteria consulted bitterly with a tang of jealousy, leaving her a befuddled as to these unfamiliar waters.

'Okay,'' Asteria said slowly. 'And what exactly do I get out of this?

'A favor i suppose, no questions asked'

'Like, hypothetically, sneaking into Dumbledore's archives?' she said

'Well, yes I suppose hypothetically we'd have the right tools to help you' he cracked a smile.

Asteria perked up. 'She likes muggle books, the ones Dirk's been lending her' she said emphasizing his name cruely. 'Her favorite so far is the Song of Achilles by an american author ,Madeline Miller, but she's had her eye on Circe, another book by Madeline Miller'

He nodded and made a mental note of it.

'Dumbledore's Archives' he took an armchair opposite of her. 'He takes a stroll around three to four in the evening, and we'll distract Filch, but there's still a lot of complications than meets the eyes'

The next few hours they plotted the great break in and came up with a mutual plan, and temporary allegiance.

When all was set and done, Black nodded not even sparing a thankyou and clambered out of the dorm.Why did Asteria want access to Dumbledore's archives, you may wonder? You may also wonder why documents of her dad's disappearance were so scarce and you may also question as to if Dumbeldore's archives were not the best stocked in confesications such as if the headmaster found certain things he thought inappropriate for his students?

Asteria continued her solo game until lunch, crossing the halls, where suits of armor sang christmas carols and everything was decked with bells of holly. The feast was one of treacle tarts and black pudding.Having stuffed her mouth, Asteria wandered back feeling full and drowsy slowly drifting to sleep in the comfort of a squashy chair, her finger grasp slipping from Quidditch throughout the ages.

When she woke up at midnight, Asteria made way to her common room ,deciding to wash the dried drool from her face when in the mirror, she caught sight of something unexpected and unamusing.Black had painted her face like a cat, with whiskers and snout, not even waiting to appreciate the rather impressive details she stormed halfway up the boys dormitory before catching thought of a more sinister approach.

Slowly tip-toeing up into the marauders' shared dorm, she tried her luck on a nonverbal charm.The next day after finishing the book at four a.m and catching a few hours of rest she woke to the surprising sight of presents.

A copy of Aridane wrapped in pretty silver wrapping from Delphi, an eagle feather quill from Dorcas, a gift bag of chocolate frogs from Marlene, a ticket to see Celestia Warbeck during the summer from Mary (though she doubted she would be allowed to go)a muggle game called dominoes from Lily,a homework planner from Alice, a packet of Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-start No-heat fireworks from Fabian and Gideon and lastly Remus's trio of bookmarks made from stray bluejay feathers, which Asteria found herself beaming at and thought what he would think of the enchanted snow globe she had bought, with her inheritance at Gringotts.

Remus was a very dear friend indeed and Asteria often wondered if the scars he bore were from his parents since they always appeared alongside his visits.Then she was reminded of her late night prank and excitedly got dressed and headed for breakfast.The first few moments sitting down besides Gertie in conversation it was all normal and Black was placidly eating his toast when the charm kicked in.

Timed perfectly to this exact moment, it burst into an eye-watering neon green.He was oblivious to it, glaring at Snape dark sneers, an eyebrow arched at Gertie and Matt's open snickers.Asteria pursed her lips, forcing down a stream of laughter.At last Tabatha arrived and spared no time in telling Black his new dyed hair was 'wacko'.

Black caught a glimpse of it on a plate and turned to Asteria, flushed with embarrassment and anger.Aster just grinned like the Cheshire cat.

'What's the matter?'

The true matter arose when he whipped out his wind and cast 'Stupefy!' at Asteria who with demigodishness speed ducked as the spell whizzed past her hair.She pulled out her own wand in a flash even before Professor McGonagall could get a word in.

'Expelliarmus!'

It flew right out of his hand to the farest end of the hall, right.McGonagall rose.

'Detention, the two of you' she said sternly. 'Six pm today, the usual place' she cast despairing at Black.

A/N

I know the Song of Achilles was written during the 20th century but wanted it to make an appearance along with the following mentioned, because I thought Asteria's interest in greek myths would work great with it.Also, mostly Sirius is portrayed at a player who dated half of hogwarts girl, with really in the order of the Phoenix, it said a girl behind him was wanting him to look her direction, but his attention was solely on his friends, and there wasn't one mention of him flirting, even when James was described as messing up his hair and casting glances at the girls by the lake, so I have reason to believe he was asexual/aromatic.

-Demi-witch15