astronomy • marlene mckinnon

forty eight

warning / note : as we commence into the war, from this chapter onwards there will be no more individual warnings. the chapters following this one would contain abuse, dark themes of the wizarding war, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and death. please proceed with caution.

Walburga Black was in a fight with her husband and despite how unaware Barty Crouch Jr. was of the situation, the two Black children were painfully conscious of it and were doing everything in their power to keep it from their houseguest. It definitely didn't help how they were blatantly glaring at each other from across the dining table.

"We've got dinner with the Rosiers today. You, me and Astraea," She had spoken up, trying to remain civil in front of the young man, the very person the dark lord had advised to invite to stay with the Blacks for Christmas break.

"I'm aware," Orion Black snapped at her and the woman across the table tightened the hold on her knife.

Astraea Black stared at the two with wide eyes, her eyes flickering to Barty as Regulus asked him if he had tried the mushrooms. The rest of breakfast was a quiet and quick affair, It seemed that Walburga and Orion Black simply could not wait to be rid of each other's presence and only wished to leave the room as soon as possible.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Regulus asked the next morning when the same thing happened once again as the two siblings made their way up the stairs.

Astraea, already pissed from the dinner the night before where every person in that room had the nerve to think that they were in control of how she got to live her own life had scowled at the boy as she snapped at him, "How would I know?"

Well, to be completely truthful, technically she did not know the full story, only that it had something to do with a half-blood named Tom who her mother was with during her time at school, which had baffled the eighteen-year-old so badly that she completely refused to accept it. And there was something about her mother worshipping the ground the dark lord walked on and her father doing the complete opposite. This, also baffled her deeply because in the entire time Astraea had known him, all her father had ever done was do everything in his power to engrave the values of blood superiority in his children so what was so wrong with the dark lord that made Orion Black not like him at all?

Those thoughts immediately went to waste and were replaced by as she noticed the flash of hurt which had come across her brother's face for a slight second before it disappeared completely.

"Alright then, I'll see you this evening," With that Regulus Black turned around and walked straight into his room where the raven-haired girl could swear that she saw Barty lounging on his bed.

"Reg, wait—" She started, letting out a sigh but the boy had already closed the door and Astraea went into her room, slamming the door behind her before she lay on the bed and screamed into her pillow. She didn't mean to be rude towards him, rage had been burning inside of her since the tea she had with her parents and the dinner with Evan's parents had only fueled it more. So, at that very moment, the raven-haired girl was just ready to explode at the tiniest things which irked her.

Her eyes fell on the ugliest lamp she had ever seen in her life and once she noticed the Black family crest on it, her anger had taken control over her and the next thing she knew that she was standing on the floor staring at a broken lamp. She let out a groan of frustration, her thoughts plaguing her more than anything ever did and sat down on the ground and began to collect the shard of glass which had shattered on the ground.

Astraea hated the position she was in. The funny thing was, she didn't blame the marriage for it was something she had expected her whole life. It's what she was born to do, as her father had said when she was only eight, be a good daughter now, be a good student at Hogwarts, work to be worthy of the Black family name and then once you're of age, get married into a respectable pureblood family and then be a good wife. No, that's not where the complications arose. How could anything complicated arise from something which Astraea was so familiar with?