astronomy • marlene mckinnon

forty four

The quietness of the night had always been comforting to Astraea, it marked the end of the day, an end to all the yelling, blood and tears. The night was when she could exist as herself, with no restrictions on her behaviour, it was the place where all her dreams took place. Of course, that was only until the sun came up once again, and left her waiting for the dark once more.

The world was asleep, but she wasn't. She was wide awake, staring at the dying fire in the Gryffindor common room while Marlene McKinnon was fast asleep, her head resting on the other girl's lap.

The Gryffindor common room, not surprisingly, was decorated in several shades of red, and it had way too many windows looking out at the school grounds. The common room was comfortable, making anyone entering feel like they were pulled into a warm hug, making them forget about all their problems.

Astraea continued to stare at the fire, wondering when it would lose all its strength and finally die out as she played with the blonde girl's hair. She could not go to sleep, she could not let go of the moment and let it go away to the sunlight bringing on another day, bringing the winter break closer. No, she could not do that, not at that moment.

In that moment, the raven-haired girl forgot about the mark on her arm, forgot about her parents and forgot about the fact that she was to be married as soon as Hogwarts finished. Nothing mattered at that moment, because she was with Marlene, and right then, in the dead of the night, there was not a single thing which could stop her from being with the girl she cared about so much.

The fire died soon enough, but Astraea was still awake. It was quiet, but that didn't really bother her and she stayed there, not daring to move even a little bit in case it disturbed the sleeping girl. She stayed there, in the common room of the house her family had sworn to hate for as long as they lived, with the girl her parents could never approve of.

It was strange how a few hours in a space which did not belong to her could provide her more comfort than she had been given in a house she had lived in for eighteen years. Strange how she had been the happiest with a person who stood for everything her family was against. She smiled slightly as her eyes flickered to Marlene and she stayed in that position, for once, not bothering about everything wrong in her life until the sun came up and filled the room with a golden light, bringing on a new day, marking the time for her leave.

Astraea tried to get up in such a way that won't wake the blonde up but she failed as she began to leave, a hand enclosed around her wrist in a soft grip.

"Don't leave," Marlene said, her blue eyes staring into the other girl's eyes, making her smile slightly.

"I don't have a choice," The raven-haired girl shrugged, "I don't think the other Gryffindors would be completely thrilled to find a snake in their common room."

"I'll hex anyone who calls you that," The blonde sat up, still holding on to the other girl's wrist and pulling her slightly closer.

Astraea let out a laugh, but still sat down next to her, "You'll have to let go of my hand, you know I can't stay here."

Marlene looked at her, "What if I say that I want you to stay."

The raven-haired girl gave her a sad smile before she pulled her into a soft kiss, one hand on her cheek, the other intertwined with the other girl's. The two girls pulled away for a while, but their eyes remained closed as their foreheads touched each other.

"Believe me when I say that I want nothing more than to stay right now," Astraea whispered as she felt the other girl letting go of her hand. "But I can't, I'm sorry."

Marlene sighed, "I know."

"Go back to sleep Marls, I'll see you in Astronomy."

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