SUMMER STARS

prologue

"NOT TO BE DRAMATIC, but I would rather die than trust you with my future," Aster said, gritting his teeth and staring down at his parents

"You will do what's best for this family," His mother, a strict raven-haired lady, sharply replied

"You are not my family," The words hit Stella like daggers.

"Then you have no place here," Their father spat, "You can only live under this roof if you comply with our rules,"

"I guess I'm moving out then,"

There was a moment of silence, maybe Aster was waiting for his parents to try to convince him to stay, maybe he was just relishing in the shock his words caused them.

Then, he stormed out of the room, his steps loud in the house's quiet.

If she didn't know better, Stella would say his eyes were glossy with tears. But she did know better — Aster didn't cry — so she blamed it on the light.

"It's about time he left, a disgrace like him would do nothing but weigh our family down,"

Upon her mother's voice, Stella swallowed thickly. Before her father could say something, she let her feet guide her out of the room. She needed to get out.

Before she knew where she was going, she stood before her brother's door. Muffled noises came from the other side of it, but her hand hesitated on the doorknob.

He's leaving, this is the least you can do—

Stella's internal monologue was interrupted as she heard soft sobs coming from the other side of the door. She quickly pulled her hand back and held it to her chest as if she'd been burned.

Crying.

It's not that crying was unheard of for her, she had cried several times before, but, comforting a crying person, now that was unheard of. Even in times when Stella would be crying in front of her family, they had just turned a blind eye and made no effort to console her.

Not to mention, Aster? Crying? Now that was unbelievable.

So she didn't know what to do. Did he need space? That was probably it.

Stella hesitated for a moment before turning around and walking to her room. Once inside, she sat down on the ground, back to the door, and pulled her knees to her chest.

What was she doing? Her brother was leaving because of an arranged marriage, and she would soon have one of those too.

Hell, he wasn't just leaving because of the arranged marriage, there were so many other things wrong with their family.

And he was leaving.

They would see each other at Hogwarts, that much was true, but as two people from rival houses, they did not talk much.

And he was leaving.

Not only that, he would be disowned.

And she was sitting here, hiding in her room.

She unsteadily pushed herself to her feet and slowly opened the door. Aster stood in the hallway, port in hand, and when they made eye contact, her breath lodged in her throat.

His eyes were red and bloodshot, his hair messy and unkempt, and his clothes were ruffled. His broken expression was almost enough to make her hug him. But Blackwoods didn't hug.

She opened her mouth to say something but then stopped. Her breath came faster as the silence stretched out. She didn't want him to go. But she couldn't keep him in this abusive house. But, she didn't want him to go. She knew she shouldn't be selfish, but even as he stood before her looking broken, she couldn't help but want to beg him to stay.

"Come,"

"Stay," Leo had appeared on the stairs and had spoken at the same time as Aster, though his voice was barely over a whisper. "Please...please don't leave,"

Stella looked at Aster hopefully, but he shook his head, "I'm sorry, I... I can't,"

"I..." Stella started, but she cut herself off. She didn't want to be selfish and beg him to stay, but she so desperately couldn't be without him.

"Take care of each other, okay?" Aster said, looking between the two twins. Stella nodded, though she knew it wasn't realistic — she hadn't spoken to Leo in years.

"Be safe," Leo whispered.

Aster paused, looking at his siblings, and then he dropped his bag and pulled them both into an awkward hug. Stella let go of her attempts to not be selfish and held onto her brothers tightly.

"I...don't want you to go," She said slowly, only being brave enough to do it when her face was hidden in his shoulder. "But... I know you have to," She took a deep breath and said something she hadn't said in years, "I love you...both of you,"

"I love you too," Aster whispered.

Leo hugged them tighter, "I love you too,"

And then they separated. Stella found an excuse in straightening his leather jacket to touch him. "Take the bus and go to like, Quinn's or something, okay?"

"I'll be okay," Aster grabbed her hand, stopping her from obsessively fixing his jacket. He grabbed Leo's hand and looked him in his eyes, "I'll be okay. Don't spit the dummy with the oldies while I'm gone,"

And then he began to make his way downstairs as the twins stood silently watching at the top. Her eyes stung, and her throat hurt from the tears she pushed back.

When he had fully left, Stella and Leo awkwardly turned to each other. She felt like, if ever, now was the time to ask. To ask why he had randomly started ignoring her in 8th grade after they had been inseparable for so long. But she knew he wouldn't tell her, he hadn't before, why was now different? Maybe because you just lost one brother and Leo probably won't want to lose you too.

But if that was the case, he had already lost her.