astronomy • marlene mckinnon

forty five

The stars shined bright in the dark night sky as the sounds of Astraea's laughter echoed in the room which faced the lake.

Sirius Black rolled his eyes before he gave her a blank look, "What?"

"You're so in love it's hilarious," The raven-haired girl smiled as she looked at the brown-haired boy sleeping with his head resting on her twin's shoulder. "I remember the fifteen-year-old boy thinking that he only liked girls and trying to sleep with every girl you laid eyes on. Look at him now Izzy, in love with a Gryffindor half-blood boy, what would dear mother say—" The girl cut herself off as her eyes landed on the brunette Slytherin whose eyes were closed, and was using her Hogwarts robe as a blanket, "Oh, she's asleep."

"Well, I'm disowned so it doesn't really matter what dear mother has to say about me." Sirius shrugged as he looked at Isabella with an unreadable expression before he turned to his sister and grinned at her, his eyes twinkling in the light, "The question you should be asking is what our lovely mother and father would say when they find out that their pride and joy, the future of the Blacks and the Rosiers, is actually in love with a Gryffindor girl, and not only that, the said girl is a half-blood."

Astraea made a face, "I'm not in love with Marlene."

The Gryffindor let out a laugh, "Right, and I'm not Minnie's favourite student."

"You are not."

Sirius scoffed, "Liar."

The raven-haired girl raised an eyebrow and her brother sighed, "Anyone with eyes can see how you look at her. You've never looked at any of your Hogsmeade dates like that before."

"They were not dates, those were just for fun."

"Are you having fun with Marlene too?"

"Of course not," Astraea shot him a glare, "Why would you even think that?"

"Then what is it, Rea?"

"It's none of your business is what it is."

Sirius let out a burst of bark-like laughter and shook his head slightly, his eyes flickering towards the boy sleeping on his shoulder for a moment before he looked back at his sister. "Your eyes light up every time you see her and I've never seen you smile as much as you have in the last two months. What did you smell in your amortentia?"

The girl's breath hitched for a moment as the moment of realization came rushing back to her and looked towards the window, "It doesn't matter, it would never work in the long run."

"Wouldn't work or you won't make it work?"

"I'm getting married in July," Astraea looked at him, her eyes growing cold.

"You don't have to get married—"

"Don't start this again."

Sirius looked in the other corner of the room where James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were fast asleep using each other as their pillow and then he looked at her. "You could leave."

"And let Regulus stay there?"

"Obviously not, take Regulus and come with us. You stay there, he's going to be a death eater and then you get married to Rosier and you're both stuck there, you more than Reg. Run away, the order can— will give you protection."

"I can protect myself."

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow and the girl took in a deep breath, "It's not that simple. I'm not you."

"I never asked you to be me, is it now bad that I don't want you to live a life that you don't want to? And what if you die, then what?"

"You have that little faith in me?"